Etymologically
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αἰτέω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ai̯.té.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ɛˈte.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈte.o/[1]

Forms

αἰτέω (aitéō) [1]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb, from Ancient Greek *αἶτος (*aîtos) + -έω (-éō), from an unattested noun “share, portion”, also seen in ἔξαιτος (éxaitos).[2][3][1] That noun belongs with αἴνυμαι (aínumai, “to take”), αἶσα (aîsa, “share, lot”) and αἴτιος (aítios, “responsible”).[2][4][3] Wiktionary traces the root to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- (“to give, take”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of asking for horses, and in Homer it is used both of asking for a thing and of asking a person.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

From Homer on it was used of begging alms, of asking someone to do something, and of asking for a woman in marriage.[5][8] The middle, said to mean “to ask for oneself”, appears from Herodotus and Aeschylus on and is often hardly different from the active.[6][9] In Aristotle's logic it meant “to postulate, assume”.[6]

In the New Testament the active and middle are used alike, and the ancient grammarians' distinction between them holds only partly.[9] Modern Greek uses the learned αιτούμαι (etoúme, “to request”), and Modern Greek αίτηση (aítisi, “application”) from αἴτησις (aítēsis) took its modern sense of a formal petition from French pétition.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of asking for horses.[6][5]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of begging.[7][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Aeschylus use the middle.[6][3]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in logic, of postulating.[6][3]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of asking for a fish and of asking for the body of Jesus.[9]
  • Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek αιτούμαι (etoúme) continues the middle.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ask, beg, plead; to ask for alms.[6][8]
  2. To ask for, demand something, often with a second accusative of the person asked.[6][8]
  3. To ask someone to do something.[6][8]
  4. To ask for a woman in marriage.[8]
  5. (logic) To postulate, assume.[6]
  6. (middle) To ask for oneself, claim; to borrow.[6][8]

Word family

  • αἴτημα (aítēma)
  • αἴτησις (aítēsis)
  • αἰτητικός (aitētikós)
  • αἰτητός (aitētós)
  • αἰτίζω (aitízō)
  • ἀπαιτέω (apaitéō)
  • ἐξαιτέω (exaitéō)
  • ἐπαιτέω (epaitéō)
  • παραιτέομαι (paraitéomai)
  • αἴνυμαι (aínumai)
  • αἶσα (aîsa)
  • αἴτιος (aítios)
  • Modern Greek αιτούμαι (etoúme)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki