δαμάζω

Forms

δᾰμᾰ́ζω (damázō) ^[1] Aeolic δαμάσδω (damásdō) (Theocritus).^[2] Mycenaean Greek da-ma-o-te, a participle meaning “those who will break in (draught animals)”, belongs to the same verb.^[3]

Etymology

It is a present made from Ancient Greek δάμνημι (dámnēmi, “to tame, subdue”), on the stem of its aorist ἐδάμασσα (edámassa).^[4][5][1] That verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to tame, subdue”): its present with a nasal infix, Aeolic δάμνημι, matches Old Irish damnaim (“to bind, tame (horses)”) exactly, and the aorist δαμάσαι (damásai) has the full grade of the root, with its vowel reshaped.^[5][4][6] Cognates elsewhere include Latin domō (“to tame”), Sanskrit दाम्यति (dāmyati) and Hittite damāš-zi (“he forces”).^[5][1] Chantraine follows Benveniste in keeping the root apart from the word for “house” in δόμος (dómos).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has its future δαμᾷ and the aorist ἐδάμασσα (edámassa), of overcoming and killing an enemy in battle.^[7][8] The present itself appears first in Aeschylus; before him the present was δάμνημι (dámnēmi).^[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was to bring something wild under control by force: to tame and break in animals, especially horses, and so to subdue girls, conquered peoples and enemies.^[4][7] In tragedy fire subdues a dead man's pride and necessity masters iron.^[2] The present δάμνημι (dámnēmi) did not belong to Attic prose, but Thucydides has the compound with κατά (katá).^[4]

In the New Testament it is used of subduing a possessed man, of taming animals and of controlling a part of the body.^[9] The word lived on in medieval Greek and survives as a learned word, Modern Greek δαμάζω (damázo), “to tame (a wild animal)” and “to bring under control”.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses its future and aorist for subduing and killing in battle.^[8][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus is the first to use the present itself.^[5][2][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for taming animals.^[2][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of subduing a possessed man and of taming animals.^[9]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word, Modern Greek δαμάζω (damázo).^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tame or break in, of animals, especially horses.^[7][2]
2. To subdue, conquer or overpower; to kill in battle.^[7][8]
3. (of things and feelings) To master or overcome; in the passive, to be overcome by a passion.^[2]
4. To bring under control, of a part of the body or of a possessed person (New Testament).^[9]

Word family

• ἀδάμαστος (adámastos)
• ἱππόδαμος (hippódamos)
• νεόδμητος (neódmētos)
• πωλοδάμνης (pōlodámnēs)

Related words

• δάμνημι (dámnēmi)
• Latin domō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 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
6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge