γέμω

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /ɡé.mɔː/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈʝe.mo/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈʝe.mo/^[1]

Forms

γέμω (gémō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gémō, a simple thematic present of Proto-Indo-European *gem- (“to take, seize”).^[1][2] It is probably related to Umbrian kumiaf (“pregnant (accusative plural)”), the source of the borrowing Latin gumia (“glutton”).^[2][3] The DGE also connects γέντο (génto, “he grasped”) and γαμέω (gaméō, “to marry”).^[3] Beekes finds the link with γέντο (génto) semantically weak, and a connection with Latin gemō (“to groan”) difficult.^[3][2] LIV sets up the root as “to press together, grasp”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Aeschylus and Ionic-Attic, meaning to be full; in its proper use it was said of a laden ship.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Only the present and imperfect are found.^[2][5] Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon use it for ships and harbours full of cargo or vessels, with a genitive of what fills them.^[7][5] Aeschylus has a boast “laden with truth”, and the tragedians use it of persons weighed down with misfortunes.^[7][5] Hesychius glosses it as “to be pregnant”.^[5] The Gospels use it of tombs full of bones and of people full of greed.^[8]

Its derivatives include γόμος (gómos, “cargo”) and the causative γεμίζω (gemízō, “to fill, load”).^[2] The verb lived on in medieval and dialect Greek, and γεμίζω (gemízō) survives as Modern Greek γεμίζω (gemízo, “to fill”).^[9][10][11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it figuratively.^[5][6][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a laden ship.^[5][7][3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of boats full of goods.^[5][3]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it for being full of wickedness.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The derivative survives as Modern Greek γεμίζω (gemízo).^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a ship: to be fully laden, with a genitive of the cargo.^[7][5]
2. (figurative) To be laden or burdened with something.^[7]
3. To be full of something.^[7][5][8]
4. To be pregnant (Hesychius).^[5]

Word family

• γόμος (gómos)
• γεμίζω (gemízō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας