δαιδάλλω

Forms

δαιδᾰ́λλω (daidállō) ^[1]

Etymology

Its relation to δαίδαλος (daídalos, “cunningly wrought”) and δαίδαλον (daídalon, “work of art”) is debated.^[2][1] Leumann started from a Mediterranean word for “ornament”, the neuter noun, from which the verb and πολυδαίδαλος (poludaídalos, “richly wrought”) were formed, while others took the verb, seen as an intensive reduplicated present, as the starting point.^[2][3] Within Greek, δέλτος (déltos), δηλέομαι (dēléomai, “to damage”), Hesychius' gloss δάλλει (dállei, “does wrong”) and δόλων (dólōn, “dagger”) have been compared.^[2][1]

Beekes rejects the Indo-European words for “hew, split”, such as Latin dolō (“to hew”), and prefers to see it as Pre-Greek, perhaps connected with the name Δαίδαλος (Daídalos), and if the verb is primary, it may be a reduplicated formation.^[2] Chantraine, noting that the noun forms are older and commoner and that Homer has only the present participle, twice, takes the verb as a denominative of the adjective, whose reduplication with dissimilation recalls παιπάλη (paipálē).^[3] This would allow a root *del- as in the Latin verb, though he grants that Leumann's Mediterranean word can be neither proved nor disproved.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer, only as a present participle, it means to work with art and embellish: a shield is worked all over, and a bed decorated with gold, silver and ivory.^[3][4][5] Mycenaean already has a derived form, Mycenaean Greek da-da-re-jo-de, read daidalejon-de.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Pindar uses it figuratively: Zeus adorns a city with brave men, the poet embellishes his theme with verses, and stories are “decked out with lies” (δεδαιδαλμένοι ψεύδεσι, Olympian 1.29).^[4][5][6] Oppian uses it for craftsmen painting horses with spots.^[4][6] Nonnus and inscriptions of the Roman period still use it of artistic work.^[6]

The word Modern Greek δαιδαλώδης (daidalódis, “labyrinthine”) is a learned word modelled on French dédaléen, which goes back through Latin to the name Δαίδαλος.^[7]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Linear B has the derived form da-da-re-jo-de.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the participle for decorating a shield and a bed.^[4][5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it figuratively of adorning cities, songs and stories.^[4][5][6]
• 3rd century AD – Oppian uses it for craftsmen marking horses with spots.^[4][6]
• 4th–5th century AD – Nonnus still uses it.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To work with art, fashion cunningly.^[4][5]
2. To decorate, embellish with precious materials.^[4][6]
3. (of painters and sculptors) To represent; in the passive, to be spotted.^[4][6]
4. (figurative) To adorn a city, a theme or a story with deeds, verses or lies.^[4][5]

Word family

• δαιδάλεος (daidáleos)
• δαίδαλμα (daídalma)
• δαίδαλος (daídalos)
• δαιδαλόω (daidalóō)
• δαιδαλόχειρ (daidalókheir)

Related words

• Δαίδαλος (Daídalos)
• πολυδαίδαλος (poludaídalos)
• δέλτος (déltos)

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. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki