βολή

Forms

βολή (bolḗ) f (genitive βολῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an o-grade noun from Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”),^[1][2][3] which goes back to Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₁- (“to hit by throwing”).^[2] The same root gives βέλος (bélos, “missile”), βόλος (bólos, “throw, net”) and βλῆμα (blêma, “throw, wound”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it is the blow of a thrown missile, opposed to a blow struck by hand (πληγή), and also the glances of the eyes.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod's Theogony uses it for the blows of missiles in battle.^[3][5] Tragedy uses it for thunderbolts (Aeschylus) and for rays of the sun and the gleam of snow (Sophocles, Euripides), and Aeschylus for the wipe of a sponge.^[4][5] As a measure of distance, a stone's or javelin's throw, it is found from Thucydides on,^[4][5] and Luke 22:41 has “about a stone's throw”.^[4][6][3] Late papyri use it for a time, occasion or instalment of a payment, and Procopius reports it as a word for labour pains.^[3][4]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for the shot of a bow (of Eros' shafts in Digenis), a missile, and a throw of the dice.^[7] Modern Greek βολή (volí) is the firing of a gun, and a colloquial homonym means convenience or comfort, influenced by medieval βολώ (voló).^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for the blow of a missile and for glances of the eyes.^[4][5][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it for blows in battle.^[3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus calls thunderbolts κεραύνιοι βολαί.^[4][5][3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides measures distance by a stone's or javelin's throw.^[4][5][3]
• 1st century AD – Luke's Gospel uses “a stone's throw” for a short distance.^[6][3]
• 6th century AD – Procopius explains it as a word for labour pains, and papyri use it for an instalment.^[3][4]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a bowshot, a missile and a throw of the dice.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A throw or cast, as of stones, javelins, arrows or dice.^[4][5]
2. The stroke or wound of a missile, opposed to a blow struck by hand.^[4][3]
3. A throw as a measure of distance: λίθου βολή, a stone's throw.^[4][5][6]
4. A thunderbolt; a ray of the sun; a gleam or flash.^[4][5]
5. A glance of the eyes.^[4][5]
6. (Byzantine) A time or occasion; an instalment of a payment.^[3][4]

Word family

• ἄβολος (ábolos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 i j k l m 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 j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας