γρύζω

Forms

γρύζω (grúzō); future γρύξω or γρύξομαι, aorist ἔγρυξα; verbal adjective γρυκτός.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek γρῦ (grû, “a grunt; the least sound”), which an ancient commentator on Aristophanes took to be the grunting of a pig, a view Chantraine finds likely.^[4][5][6] Frisk explains the verb as formed with the verb-making suffix -ζω (-zō), not from a stem ending in a consonant, while the DGE reconstructs it as *grug-i̯-ō, built on the same sound-word.^[5][6]

Similar sound-imitating verbs, formed in parallel rather than inherited, are Latin grunniō and grundiō, Old English grunnian and German grunzen, all meaning “to grunt”.^[4][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the iambic poet Hipponax, of a person grumbling.^[6] In the comedies of Aristophanes it means to make a sound or say a word, nearly always with a negative and with the sense that even that much is unwelcome: one character dares the others to “grumble and dare” (γρύζειν δὲ καὶ τολμᾶτον, Plutus 454).^[2][1][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Attic the verb belonged to colloquial speech: Aristophanes uses it of a child who must not be heard to make a sound, and in Plato's Euthydemus a speaker says that he deserved what he got for opening his mouth.^[2][6] Callimachus construes it with two accusatives, saying nothing good or bad about someone.^[1][2] Herodas has it in a threat against someone who keeps grumbling.^[6]

From the 3rd century BC it also named animal sounds: the Septuagint says that in Egypt “not a dog will snarl with its tongue” (οὐ γρύξει κύων τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ, Exodus 11.7), and Alciphron uses it of a pig grunting.^[8][1] Porphyry has it with πρός and the accusative, to grumble against someone.^[1][6] Christian writers use it of the martyrs, who neither complained nor groaned.^[6][9] The 13th-century lexicon of Zonaras glosses it as “to lament” and “to speak under one's breath”.^[10]

Modern Greek keeps γρύζω (grýzo) as a synonym of γρυλίζω (grylízo, “to grunt, growl”).^[11][7]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Hipponax uses it of a person grumbling.^[6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of making a sound or uttering a word, mostly with a negative.^[1][2][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it with two accusatives, of saying anything good or bad about someone.^[1][2]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it of a dog snarling.^[8][12]
• 3rd century AD – Porphyry uses it with πρός, of grumbling against someone.^[1][6]
• 4th century AD – Alciphron uses it of a pig grunting.^[1]
• Modern Greek – The verb survives as γρύζω (grýzo), beside γρυλίζω (grylízo).^[11][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make a sound, say a word, mutter; mostly with a negative: not to utter a sound.^[1][2]
2. To grumble, complain; with πρός and the accusative, to grumble against someone.^[1][6][9]
3. Of animals: to growl (a dog) or grunt (a pig).^[1][8]

Related words

• γρῦ (grû)
• γρυλίζω (grūlízō)
• γρομφάς (gromphás)
• Latin grunniō
• German grunzen

Usage notes

A separate future γρύσει, “will melt, liquefy”, occurs once in the Aristotelian Problems; the DGE treats it as a second verb of the same spelling.^[6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
11. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux