βούλομαι

Forms

βούλομαι (boúlomai) ^[1] Epic βόλομαι (bólomai), Aeolic βόλλομαι (bóllomai), Doric βώλομαι (bṓlomai), Thessalian βέλλομαι (béllomai), Boeotian βείλομαι (beílomai), Locrian and Delphic δείλομαι (deílomai), Coan δήλομαι (dḗlomai).^[2][3] The Mycenaean form qe-ro-me-no may belong here.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“to want, wish”), perhaps *gʷelh₃-, but its prehistory is much discussed and there is no agreement.^[5][6] Beekes assumes an old perfect *βέβολα (*bébola) with present meaning, of which προβέβουλα (probéboula) in the Iliad may be a trace; the o-vowel and the initial β (b) could have spread from it, though he doubts that the perfect alone explains the o-vowel everywhere.^[5] The present was formed with a suffix in -n- or -s-.^[5] Ruijgh holds that only a cluster *-λν- (*-ln-) explains the lengthened vowel, and Peters suggested a root ending in *-h₃, which might account for the o-vowel.^[5][4] The root has no certain cognates outside Greek.^[1] Wiktionary mentions, as speculation, that it might be the same as Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to throw”), the root of βάλλω (bállō), and the DGE also compares that verb.^[1][4] The noun βουλή (boulḗ) is probably derived from the verb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning “to wish, want”; in Homer it is used of gods who will something for someone, as when a god wills victory to the Trojans.^[5][2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek used it for wishing, being willing, wanting something and preferring one thing to another.^[3] Attic had idioms with it: βούλει with a subjunctive, “would you have me ...?”, and εἰ βούλει, “if you like”.^[2][3] In Plato and Aristotle it is said of things that aim or claim to be something, and of words and laws, “to mean”.^[3] The Attic phrase ὁ βουλόμενος, “anyone who wishes”, was the term for the private citizen who could bring a prosecution.^[2] The augment ἠ- (ē-) in ἠβουλόμην (ēboulómēn) is perhaps no older than the 3rd century BC.^[3]

In the New Testament it no longer differs in meaning from θέλω (thélō).^[8] Medieval Greek kept the word, and it still lives in some dialects.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of gods who will an outcome.^[2][7]
• 7th century BC – Archilochus uses it for preferring someone.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use ὁ βουλόμενος for “anyone who wishes”.^[2][4]
• 3rd century BC – The augmented form ἠβουλόμην (ēboulómēn) perhaps appears about this time.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it with the same meaning as θέλω (thélō).^[8]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek keeps the verb.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wish, desire; with an infinitive, to want to do something, or want someone to do it.^[3][2]
2. To be willing or ready to do something.^[3]
3. To want something.^[3]
4. To prefer, with ἤ or μᾶλλον ἤ, “rather than”.^[3][2]
5. Of things: to aim or claim to be something.^[3]
6. Of statements and laws: to mean, signify.^[3]

Word family

• βουλή (boulḗ)
• βουλεύω (bouleúō)
• βούλησις (boúlēsis)

Related words

• ἐθέλω (ethélō)

Usage notes

In Attic law ὁ βουλόμενος was the citizen who volunteered to prosecute, and in comedy the phrase also meant an informer.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr