δαίομαι

Forms

δαίομαι (daíomai); epic 3rd person plural perfect passive δεδαίαται.^[1][2] The active is not used in this sense.^[2] Beekes groups with it δαίνυμι (daínūmi), with the aorist δαῖσαι and the future δαίσω.^[3]

Etymology

It continues a present Proto-Indo-European *dh₂-éi̯e- of the root *deh₂(i̯)- (“to share, divide”), and agrees in its formation with Sanskrit दयते (dáyate, “divides”); the ⟨ι⟩ was generalised by analogy.^[3][4][5] Other forms of the same root are दाति (dā́ti, “mows, cuts off”), Albanian daj (“to divide”), and probably the Germanic and Armenian words for “time”, such as Old English tīma.^[3][4]

δῆμος (dêmos) belongs to the same root, and Beekes and Chantraine compare δατέομαι (datéomai) and δάπτω (dáptō).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Odyssey is the first to use it, of the Ethiopians “divided in two” at the ends of the earth and of a heart “torn” with grief.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it meant to divide up meat for a feast.^[1][2] Its Homeric derivatives include δαίς (daís) “portion, meal” and δαιτυμών (daitumṓn) “guest”.^[3] Pindar uses it of the gods who apportion woes to mortals, and Aristophanes, figuratively, of Euripides slicing up words.^[1][2] The aorist ἔδαισα “to feast”, used from Herodotus on, is formed from the same verb but belongs in sense to δαίνυμι (daínūmi).^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it of dividing meat, of a people divided in two and of a heart torn by grief.^[2][1]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of the gods who apportion evils to mortals.^[2][1][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it figuratively of carving up words.^[1][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To divide up, carve, of meat for a feast.^[1][2]
2. To apportion, distribute, of what the gods give to mortals.^[1][2]
3. (passive) To be divided; of the heart, to be torn or distracted.^[1][2]
4. (figurative) To slice up words.^[1]

Word family

• δαίς (daís)
• δαίτη (daítē)
• δαιτυμών (daitumṓn)
• δαιτρός (daitrós)
• δαιτρεύω (daitreúō)

Related words

• δαίνυμι (daínūmi)
• δατέομαι (datéomai)
• δῆμος (dêmos)
• δάπτω (dáptō)

Usage notes

It is distinct from δαίω “to kindle”, whose middle and passive forms are also δαίομαι: LSJ gives the two verbs as separate words, (A) and (B), and the CGL separate entries.^[2][1]

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge