γελάω

Forms

γελᾰ́ω (geláō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek γέλως (gélōs, “laughter”), made from the older neuter stem *γέλας (*gélas).^[2][3] Beekes traces the noun to Proto-Indo-European *gelh₂- (“to laugh”), which Wiktionary and the LIV reconstruct with a palatal velar.^[4][1][5] The zero grade appears in γαλήνη (galḗnē, “calm sea”), and Hesychius glosses γελεῖν (geleîn) as “to shine, to bloom”, which keeps the physical sense of the root.^[4]

Cognate with Old Armenian ծաղր (całr, “laughter”), whose r-stem may be matched in Greek γαληρός (galērós).^[4][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad the soldiers laugh at a man, Homer also speaks of a heart that laughs within and of the whole earth “laughing” in the gleam of bronze.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

From Homer on it means both to laugh with pleasure and to laugh at someone; tragedy and later writers also use it transitively, “to mock”, with a passive “to be laughed at”.^[6][7] Of things, the earth, a house or water “laugh”, that is, shine or look bright.^[6][7] In the New Testament it is the laughter of those who are now happy, set against weeping.^[8]

Medieval Greek kept γελώ, also of things that look bright and of fortune that smiles on someone.^[9] It survives as Modern Greek γελώ (geló).^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of laughing at someone and of the earth shining.^[6][12]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of a father's house that “laughs”.^[6][12]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses the passive “to be mocked”.^[6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it transitively, “to deride”.^[6][7]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke sets laughing against weeping.^[8]
• Medieval Greek – Vernacular γελώ keeps the old senses.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To laugh or smile with pleasure; of the heart, to rejoice.^[6][7]
2. To laugh at someone or something, derisively.^[6][7]
3. (transitive) To mock or deride; passive, to be laughed at.^[6][7]
4. (figurative) Of the earth, a house or water, to shine, beam or smile.^[6][7]

Word family

• γελασείω (gelaseíō)
• γέλασμα (gélasma)
• γελαστής (gelastḗs)
• γελαστός (gelastós)
• καταγελάω (katageláō)

Related words

• γελοῖος (geloîos)
• γέλως (gélōs)
• γαλήνη (galḗnē)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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
10. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux