δανείζω

Forms

δανείζω (daneízō); future δανείσω, aorist ἐδάνεισα, perfect δεδάνεικα; middle future δανείσομαι, aorist ἐδανεισάμην; passive aorist ἐδανείσθην, perfect δεδάνεισμαι^[1][2] Hellenistic δανίζω, with the Septuagint future δανιῶ.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek δάνος (dános, “gift; loan, debt”), a denominative verb that the DGE traces to *δανεσίζω (*danesízō), built on the s-stem of the noun.^[4][3][6] The CGL relates it to δάνειον (dáneion, “loan”), itself from the same noun.^[2][3]

The origin of the noun is uncertain.^[3] Brugmann connected it with δατέομαι (datéomai, “to divide”), from Proto-Indo-European *dh₂-no-, compare Sanskrit दिन (diná-, “divided”).^[3][6] Beekes notes it cannot come from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”), since that root would have given a form with -ο-, and allows that the word could be foreign.^[3][6] Frisk also gives the older view, which takes it as the zero grade of the stem of δῶρον (dôron, “gift”) and Latin dōnum.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are in Attic inscriptions of the 5th century BC, of public loans, and in Aristophanes, of lending money.^[4][1] The DGE also cites it from the laws attributed to Solon.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Attic it was a term of money-lending: the active meant to lend, especially at interest or on security, and the middle to borrow.^[1][2] The orators often set lender and borrower against each other with the two voices, and Aristotle recalls Solon's ban on lending on the security of the borrower's person.^[1][4] Plato uses the middle of the gods who “borrow” portions of the universe to make mortal bodies.^[2][4]

The Septuagint, with the Hellenistic spelling δανίζω, promises in Deuteronomy that the people will lend to many nations and not borrow, and Proverbs says that whoever pities the poor lends to God.^[4] The New Testament uses it in Luke and Matthew for lending and borrowing.^[5]

Medieval Greek kept the verb.^[7] The modern Modern Greek δανείζω (daneízo) means to lend, the middle to borrow, also of ideas and words, a use that follows French emprunter; a proverb says that whoever gives to the poor lends to God.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Attic inscriptions record public loans, and Aristophanes uses the active for lending and the middle for borrowing.^[4][1]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and the orators use it for lending at interest.^[1][2]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of loans on security, and Aristotle of Solon's law against loans on the person.^[1][4]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for lending and borrowing.^[5]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek keeps the verb.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It means to lend, and the middle to borrow, also figuratively.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lend money or goods, especially at interest or on security.^[1][2]
2. (intransitive) To be a lender; the participle as a noun, a lender, creditor.^[2][4]
3. (passive) Of money, to be lent.^[2][4]
4. (middle) To borrow.^[1][2][5]
5. (figurative) To lend or grant something for a time; in the middle, to be granted something temporarily.^[2][4]

Word family

• δάνειον (dáneion)
• δανειστής (daneistḗs)
• δάνεισμα (dáneisma)

Usage notes

The Antiatticist notes its construction: the person who receives the loan is in the dative and the thing lent in the genitive, as in Isocrates, “to lend him some of the god's money”.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck