βάλλω

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /bál.lɔː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈβal.lo/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈval.lo/^[1]

Forms

βᾰ́λλω (bállō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷl̥-ne-h₁-, a nasal present of *gʷelh₁- (“to hit by throwing”).^[1][2] The double /ll/ is explained either from a /y/-present or, perhaps better, from an older athematic nasal present.^[3][4] Arcadian δέλλω (déllō) (also ζέλλω (zéllō)) shows another vowel grade and the old labiovelar.^[3][5] The perfect βέβληκα (béblēka) and βέλεμνον (bélemnon, “dart”) belong to the same root.^[5][2]

Its cognates are uncertain: the LIV compares Old Irish at·baill (“dies”), and the DGE adds Tocharian B klā- (“to fall”) for the long-vowel stem.^[2][6][1] The similar English ball is unrelated.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it from the first book of the Iliad (1.52) for shooting arrows and hurling spears and stones, and for hitting a target with them.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The original sense was probably “to reach, hit by throwing”.^[5] From throwing and hitting it spread to every kind of putting: setting something in a place, casting dice or lots, dropping anchor, laying a foundation, putting a thought into someone's mind.^[10] Many compounds (ἀναβάλλω (anabállō), ἀποβάλλω (apobállō), ἐκβάλλω (ekbállō), ἐμβάλλω (embállō)...) and nouns (βολή (bolḗ), βέλος (bélos), βλῆμα (blêma)) were formed from it.^[5]

The New Testament uses it for casting lots, throwing into prison and putting wine into wineskins.^[10][11] In Modern Greek βάλλω is a learned word for firing a weapon and for attacking someone with criticism.^[12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for throwing and hitting.^[8][9]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the middle for setting a plough to oxen.^[10][6]
• 5th century BC – Aeschylus and Euripides use it for casting dice.^[10][6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for casting lots and throwing into prison.^[10][11]
• Modern Greek – βάλλω means to fire and to attack.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw, cast, fling.^[9][10]
2. To throw or shoot (a missile); to hit, strike (with a missile or blow).^[10][9]
3. To cast (dice, lots); to drop (anchor).^[10]
4. To throw out or into a place; to banish.^[10]
5. To put, place, set; to lay (a foundation).^[10]
6. To put (a thought) into the mind.^[10]
7. To let fall, throw away.^[10]

Word family

• ἀμφιβάλλω (amphibállō)
• ἀναβάλλω (anabállō)
• ἀντιβάλλω (antibállō)
• ἀποβάλλω (apobállō)
• βέλεμνον (bélemnon)
• βελόνη (belónē)
• βέλος (bélos)
• βλῆμα (blêma)
• βόλος (bólos)
• διαβάλλω (diabállō)
• διάβολος (diábolos)
• εἰσβάλλω (eisbállō)
• ἑκατηβόλος (hekatēbólos)
• ἐκβάλλω (ekbállō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki