βλάπτω

Forms

βλᾰ́πτω (bláptō) ^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers the group of βλάβη (blábē, “damage”) Pre-Greek, because Cretan forms such as ἀβλοπία (ablopía) beside ἀβλάβεια (ablábeia) show the alternations of vowel and of labial typical of Pre-Greek words.^[2] The verb also has an unsuffixed present βλάβεται (blábetai) in Homer.^[2]

Most scholars take βλαπ- (blap-) as the original stem and connect it with Sanskrit मृच्यति (mṛcyati, “to hurt”) and Avestan mərəṇcaitē (“destroys”), from Proto-Indo-European *melkʷ- (“to damage, destroy”).^[2][3][4] Beekes objects that the Cretan forms do not show the expected development of the syllabic liquid, and that the oldest Greek sense, “to hinder”, does not fit the Indo-Iranian one.^[2] He also doubts a link with Latin mulcō (“to beat”), and notes that Puhvel's comparison with Hittite gullakuwan fails on its meaning.^[2] The DGE adds that the present may be secondary, formed from the sigmatic future and aorist.^[4]

Plato's Cratylus playfully explains it as “wishing to fasten”, and the Etymologicum Gudianum derives it from βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it first means to hinder or disable, as in the Iliad, and of a man whom the gods keep from his journey in the Odyssey.^[2][6][7] Homer also uses it of the gods leading a person's mind astray.^[6]

Semantic evolution

After Homer the usual sense is “to damage, harm”, with an accusative of the person and often a neuter adjective for the extent of the harm.^[6][8] Pindar uses it of marring a prophecy, and Aristotle of breaking oaths.^[6] In the New Testament it means to injure, as in the Gospel of Mark.^[9]

Medieval Greek had the forms Byzantine Greek βλάβω (blábō) and Byzantine Greek βλάφτω (bláphtō).^[10] Modern Greek uses the learned βλάπτω (vlápto) and the vernacular βλάφτω (vláfto), with /pt/ changed to /ft/, meaning to harm, especially one's health.^[11][12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of hindering and of misleading the mind.^[6][8]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it.^[7][4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it in the sense “to harm”.^[6][4]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Mark uses it of being harmed.^[9]
• Medieval Greek – Vernacular texts use the form βλάφτω.^[10]
• Modern Greek – βλάπτω and βλάφτω mean to harm.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Homeric) To hinder, to disable; with the genitive, to keep someone from something.^[6][8]
2. Of the gods or of Ate, to lead the mind astray, to mislead.^[6]
3. To harm, damage, hurt.^[6][8][9]
4. To mar or break something, such as a prophecy or an oath.^[6]

Word family

• βλάψις (blápsis)
• βλάμμα (blámma)

Related words

• βλάβη (blábē)
• βλάβος (blábos)
• βλαβερός (blaberós)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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 Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας