διαγράφω

Forms

διαγρᾰ́φω (diagráphō); aorist διέγραψα, perfect passive διαγέγραμμαι.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek δια- (dia-, “through, apart”) + γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, draw, write”).^[2] It is built like καταγράφω (katagráphō) and συγγράφω (sungráphō).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 5th century BC Euripides uses it of striking off a person's name, writing a woman off as immoral, while Aristophanes writes off the cavalry as worthless and uses the passive of a lawsuit struck off the list.^[1][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb has two lines of meaning from the start: drawing lines to mark out or describe something, and drawing a line through something to cancel it.^[2][3] In Plato the first is the planning of a city by draughtsmen who follow a divine model, and the second the striking out of verses from the poets.^[1][3][5] In law the magistrate “struck off” a case, while in the middle voice a plaintiff dropped his own suit.^[1][3]

Aristotle uses it for setting out propositions or types in a list or diagram.^[3][5] In Hellenistic Greek the passive is used of a treaty being drafted, Polybius uses it of enrolling soldiers, and papyri and inscriptions from the 3rd century BC use it of fixing a sum by written order and of paying through a bank.^[1][3] Plutarch uses it of cancelling a decree and of allotting land.^[3][1] The Septuagint has it of drawing a city on a brick and of surveying land for division.^[5]

Modern Greek διαγράφω (diagráfo) is a learned continuation; its main sense is to delete or cancel, and it has also taken a sense from French décrire.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of writing a woman off, and Aristophanes of a lawsuit struck off the list.^[1][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of drawing up the plan of a city and of crossing out verses.^[1][5]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses the middle of a plaintiff withdrawing a suit, and Aristotle uses it of setting out propositions.^[1][3]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use it of fixing payments by written order and of paying through a bank.^[1]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of enrolling soldiers and, in the passive, of a treaty being drafted.^[1][3]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of cancelling a decree and of allotting land.^[1][3]
• Modern Greek – The learned verb means to delete or cancel.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mark out by lines, delineate, design, of a city's plan or a camp.^[1][3][5]
2. To set out in a list or diagram; to describe in words.^[3][5]
3. To enrol, levy soldiers; in the passive, of a treaty, to be drafted.^[1][3]
4. To draw a line through, cross out, erase; to write someone off.^[1][3]
5. (law) Of a magistrate, to strike a case off the list; in the middle, of a plaintiff, to drop a suit.^[1][3]
6. To cancel, rescind a decree; to rule out.^[1][3]
7. To assign, allot land or property.^[3][1]
8. (papyri) To order a payment in writing; to pay through a bank, or simply to pay.^[1]

Word family

• διάγραμμα (diágramma)
• διαγραφή (diagraphḗ)

Related words

• καταγράφω (katagráphō)
• περιγράφω (perigráphō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d 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 p q r Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki