διαβαίνω

Forms

δῐᾰβαίνω (diabaínō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek διά (diá, “through, apart”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to walk, step”).^[1][2] The prefix gives the two senses of the verb: with the legs apart, and across from one side to the other.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.^[3][5] In the Iliad a warrior plants himself “with legs well apart” to fight or throw, and the verb also means to cross a trench; in the Odyssey it means to cross over to Elis.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The posture sense, “to stand with feet apart”, stayed in use for warriors, wrestlers and men lifting a weight (Tyrtaeus, Theognis, Xenophon), and Aristophanes used it obscenely.^[6][7] Triantafyllidis gives this as the original sense.^[4] The sense “to cross” a trench, river or sea became the usual one, with Hesiod, Herodotus and Thucydides, and Alcaeus speaks of crossing the Acheron;^[3][6] Herodotus also used it figuratively of turning to another person in a speech.^[3][6]

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for crossing, as of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.^[8] A Hellenistic inscription from Teos uses it for “to decide” lawsuits.^[3] Medieval Greek kept the verb,^[9] and Modern Greek διαβαίνω (diavaíno), a literary word, still means to cross or pass through.^[4]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad uses it of a warrior standing firm with legs apart and of crossing a trench.^[3][6][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of crossing the stream of Ocean.^[3][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of crossing rivers and, figuratively, of turning to someone in a speech.^[3][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of straddling.^[6]
• 3rd century BC – Inscriptions use it for deciding lawsuits.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The Letter to the Hebrews uses it of the crossing of the Red Sea.^[8]
• Modern Greek – διαβαίνω (diavaíno) survives as a literary word for “cross, pass through”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stride, stand with one's legs apart, of a warrior planting himself firmly or a man lifting a weight; to straddle.^[6][3][7]
2. (transitive) To cross a trench, river or sea.^[6][3][8]
3. (intransitive) To cross over to a place.^[6][3]
4. (figurative) To turn to someone in one's argument.^[6][3]
5. (Hellenistic) To decide lawsuits.^[3]

Word family

• διάβασις (diábasis)
• διαβατέος (diabatéos)
• διαβατήρια (diabatḗria)
• διαβατός (diabatós)
• διαβήτης (diabḗtēs)
• διάβαθρον (diábathron)

Related words

• διαβασείω (diabaseíō)
• διαβάσκω (diabáskō)
• διαβιβάζω (diabibázō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr