δέρκομαι

Forms

δέρκομαι (dérkomai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *dérkomai, from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see, look at”).^[1][2][3] The perfect δέδορκα (dédorka, “I see”) has the same formation as the perfect of Sanskrit दृश् (dṛś, “to see”), and the aorist ἔδρακον (édrakon) also has a Sanskrit match.^[2][1] Indo-Iranian has a different present, related to σκέπτομαι (sképtomai), so the present δέρκομαι is probably a Greek innovation, on which the future and the passive aorist were also built.^[2][4] Other cognates are Old English torht (“bright”) and Albanian dritë (“light”).^[2]

The DGE gives the Mycenaean names Mycenaean Greek da-ra-ko and Mycenaean Greek de-ke-se-u.^[5] The zero grade is seen in δράκων (drákōn, “serpent”), and Beekes also compares δορκάς (dorkás, “gazelle”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to see or look upon, and in the phrase “while I live and look upon the earth” to have sight as one of the living.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb stayed poetic: Homer, Pindar, Bacchylides, the tragedians and Hellenistic poets use it, and Sophocles never uses the aorist ἔδρακον.^[8][7] Besides “to see”, it meant to have a certain look: to glance meltingly in Ibycus, to glare fiercely, or, with an accusative, to look fire.^[8] In Pindar the light of fame is said to gleam.^[8] To see the light was to be alive, and Euripides uses seeing darkness of being dead or blind.^[8] The perfect δέδορκα with present sense is found in later prose too, in Aristotle and Lucian.^[7]

Derivatives include δέργμα (dérgma, “glance”) in Aeschylus.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of seeing and of being alive.^[6][9]
• 6th century BC – Ibycus uses it of a melting glance.^[8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of fame that gleams.^[8]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses “to see darkness” of being dead or blind.^[8]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses the perfect δέδορκα in prose.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look at, see, behold.^[7][8][6]
2. To look, gaze in some direction.^[8]
3. To have a certain look: to glare, stare; with an accusative, to look fire or war.^[8][7]
4. To have the power of sight; to see the light, be alive.^[8][6]
5. (figurative) To gleam, shine, of fame.^[8]

Word family

• δέργμα (dérgma)

Related words

• δράκων (drákōn)
• δορκάς (dorkás)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux