δέρω

Forms

δέρω (dérō) ^[1] Ionic and Attic poetic δείρω (deírō) (Herodotus, Aristophanes).^[2][3] Future δερῶ (derô), aorist ἔδειρα (édeira), passive future δαρήσομαι (darḗsomai) (New Testament), aorist ἐδάρην (edárēn), perfect δέδαρμαι (dédarmai).^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *dérō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”).^[1][4] LIV gives the root the meaning “to tear, shatter” and finds root aorists of it in Vedic, Slavic and Tocharian.^[5] Cognates include Lithuanian dìrti (“to flay”), Russian деру (deru, “I tear”) and Proto-Germanic *teraną, the source of the English verb tear.^[4][1]

The aorist ἔδειρα (édeira) goes back to *ἔδερσα (*édersa), and the noun δάρσις (dársis, “flaying”) has exact counterparts in Sanskrit and Gothic.^[4] The same root gives δέρμα (dérma, “skin”), δέρας (déras, “hide”) and δορά (dorā́, “hide”).^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to skin or flay an animal; the Iliad uses it of the victims of a sacrifice.^[3][2][7]

Semantic evolution

In comedy and in Plato it is also used, often as an exaggerated threat, of flaying a person alive: in Aristophanes a character threatens to make a thief's purse of another's skin.^[3][2] Colloquially, from Aristophanes on, it meant to cudgel or thrash someone, and this is its only sense in the New Testament, where servants and apostles are beaten.^[2][8] The anatomist Herophilus used it of separating tissue by tearing.^[2]

Medieval Greek remade the present as δέρνω, after verbs such as κάμνω and τέμνω, and used it for beating and striking, also of the sun, the sea or the wind.^[9][10] Modern Greek δέρνω (dérno) means to beat, and keeps the ancient aorist έδειρα.^[9][6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for flaying animals.^[3][2]
• 7th–6th century BC – Solon speaks of having one's skin flayed off.^[2][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic form δείρω (deírō) for skinning animals.^[2][3][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for thrashing and for flaying a person alive.^[2][3][11]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus of 240 BC uses it in the old sense, to skin.^[8]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it only for beating or whipping.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The remade present δέρνω (dérno) means to beat.^[9][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To skin or flay an animal.^[2][3]
2. To flay a person alive, often as an exaggerated threat.^[3][2]
3. (colloquial) To cudgel or thrash; in the New Testament, to beat or whip.^[2][8][3]
4. (anatomy) To separate by tearing.^[2]

Word family

• δέρμα (dérma)
• δέρας (déras)
• δορά (dorā́)
• δάρσις (dársis)

Related words

• Lithuanian dirti
• English tear

Usage notes

Proverbs with the verb include “to flay a flayed dog”, of wasted effort (Pherecrates), “to flay the air”, of pointless work, and the saying that “a man who has not been thrashed is not educated”.^[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 j k l m n o 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d 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 c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge