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αὔω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word αὔω

αὔω1 to shout

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Homer, Iliad

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ǎu̯.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈa.βo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈa.vo/[1]

Forms

αὔω (aúō) [1]

Etymology

The verb meaning “to shout” is of uncertain origin.[2] Beekes says it may be onomatopoeic, “but nothing more can be said”.[2] Wiktionary compares the imitative Latin ululō (“to howl”).[1] The DGE also suggests the root seen, with a ⟨δ⟩ extension, in αὐδή (audḗ) “voice”, while allowing an onomatopoeic origin.[3] The υ is long in all its forms.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is frequent in the Iliad for the shouting of warriors and gods, as when Hera or the Achaeans shout, and for calling to one's comrades.[4][5] Homer also uses it of armour that rings when struck: “his shield rang”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Tragedy uses it for crying out, sometimes with an object: to utter a groan or a word.[5] The noun ἀϋτή (aütḗ) “battle cry” and the verb ἀϋτέω (aütéō), used in the same sense, belong with it.[2] Semonides has a further noun αὐονή (auonḗ) “shouting”.[2] The verb remained poetic: GLAUx finds about half its occurrences in Homer.[6]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for shouting and for the ringing of a shield.[4][5]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus pairs it with a verb of screaming.[5][3]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it of crying out and uttering a sound.[5][3]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus still uses it in his hymns.[5][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shout, cry out, call aloud; with an object, to utter a cry or groan.[5][4]
  2. To call to someone, call upon.[5][4]
  3. Of things, to ring or resound when struck.[5][4]

Word family

  • ἀϋτή (aütḗ)
  • ἀϋτέω (aütéō)
  • αὐονή (auonḗ)

αὔω2 to kindle

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Homer, Odyssey
Inherited from
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews-
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews-

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ǎu̯.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈa.βo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈa.vo/[1]

Forms

αὔω (aúō) [1] Linear B has the dual Mycenaean Greek pu-ra-u-to-ro, which Beekes sets beside πυραύστρα (puraústra) “fire-tongs”, from the phrase “to kindle fire”.[2]

Etymology

The verb meaning “to kindle” is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“to scoop, draw (water)”).[2][1] Beekes derives it from *h₂eus-e/o- or *h₂eus-ie/o-, with the loss of the rough breathing in most Greek forms.[2] Cognate with Old Norse ausa (“to scoop”) and Latin hauriō (“to draw (water)”), whose h is hypercorrect.[2][5] Its connection with fire is a Greek development: the verb first meant to scoop, and the Greeks spoke of “scooping” fire from a hearth as well as water.[2][1] The DGE also relates it to εὕω (heúō) “to singe”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only Homeric use is in the Odyssey, in a simile of keeping fire alive “so that one need not get a light from elsewhere”.[5][4][2] The Mycenaean tablets already have a compound that Beekes connects with the later word for fire-tongs.[2]

Semantic evolution

The simple verb is poetic and rare: Aratus has the middle in the sense “to catch fire”.[5] Prefixed forms are commoner: ἐναύω (enaúō) “to kindle”, in the middle “to scoop fire”, and ἐξαυστήρ (exaustḗr) “fire-tongs”, in Aeschylus.[2] πυραύστης (puraústēs), in Aeschylus a moth that singes itself in a flame, goes back to the phrase “to kindle fire”.[2] Hesychius' glosses keep the older sense “to draw, pour”.[2]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean (Linear B) – A tablet has the dual Mycenaean Greek pu-ra-u-to-ro, a compound of this verb.[2]
  • Homer – The Odyssey uses it for getting a light.[5][4]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the compound ἐναύω “to kindle”.[2][3]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses the middle for catching fire.[5][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To get a light, kindle a fire.[5][4]
  2. (middle) To catch fire.[5]

Word family

  • ἐναύω (enaúō)
  • ἔναυσμα (énausma)
  • ἐξαυστήρ (exaustḗr)
  • πυραύστης (puraústēs)

Usage notes

Beekes, LSJ and the DGE number the two verbs differently: LSJ and the DGE put “to kindle” first.[5][3][2] LSJ records a third αὔω in Nicander, a form of ἰαύω (iaúō) “to sleep”, which Wiktionary explains as its unreduplicated form.[5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  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. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Αὔω.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%B1%E1%BD%94%CF%89. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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