αἱρέω

Forms

αἱρέω (hairéō) ^[1] Cretan αἱλέω (hailéō), a blend of αἱρέω and ἑλεῖν.^[2]

Etymology

Beekes gives no etymology, and Chantraine finds none established.^[2][3] The LIV takes the present as a zero-grade present *sr̥-i̯é-, and Wiktionary, following it, makes the word inherited from Proto-Hellenic *həřřéyō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to take, grasp, plunder”).^[4][1] In the LIV's view the root survives as a verb only in Greek and in Latvian sirt (“to make raids”), while Hittite sāru (“booty”) is a noun from it.^[4] Beekes leaves the origin open.^[1][2]

The aorist comes from another root: ἑλεῖν (heleîn) is used as its suppletive aorist,^[2][3] which Wiktionary traces to the synonymous Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take”).^[1] The Cretan forms with -λ- in the Gortyn Law Code mix the two stems.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on in the senses "take with the hand, grasp" (to take someone by the hand, by the hair), "take, capture" (ships, a city) and "overpower, kill".^[5][6] The middle already means "take for oneself, choose" in the Iliad.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine notes that the verb is clearly different from λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to receive”).^[3] From "catch, seize" came "catch someone in the act", and in Attic law "convict", with the active "obtain a conviction".^[5][6] Herodotus says that reason "takes" a man when it persuades him, and Plato uses the verb for grasping something with the mind.^[5] In papyri of the 1st and 2nd centuries the participle could mean the sum due.^[5]

The middle sense "choose" gave the derivatives αἵρεσις (haíresis), "choice", then "party" and "philosophical school", from which English heresy comes, αἱρετός (hairetós), "to be chosen", and the late αἱρετικός (hairetikós), "causing schisms".^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for grasping, capturing a city and killing; the middle means "to choose".^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus says that "reason takes" a man, meaning that it persuades him.^[5][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and the orators use it for convicting someone in court.^[5][6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for grasping something with the mind.^[5][7]
• 1st century AD – A papyrus uses the participle for the sum due.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take with the hand, grasp, seize.^[5][6]
2. To take away, remove.^[5][6]
3. To take, capture (ships, horses, a city); to overpower, kill; of passions, to seize.^[5][6]
4. To catch as prey; to overtake in a race; figuratively, to win over.^[5][6]
5. To catch or detect someone doing something.^[5]
6. To win, gain (glory, a prize); generally, to get, obtain.^[5][6]
7. (law) To convict; to obtain a conviction or a verdict.^[5][6]
8. Of reason or evidence: to prove, to persuade.^[5]
9. To grasp with the mind, understand.^[5][6]
10. (middle) To take for oneself; to choose, prefer; to elect.^[5][6][2]

Word family

• αἵρεσις (haíresis)
• αἱρετίζω (hairetízō)
• αἱρετιστής (hairetistḗs)
• αἱρετός (hairetós)
• ἀναιρέω (anairéō)
• αὐθαίρετος (authaíretos)
• ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō)
• διαιρέω (diairéō)
• ἐξαιρέω (exairéō)
• καθαιρέτης (kathairétēs)
• καθαιρέω (kathairéō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge