διαλύω

Forms

δῐᾰλῡ́ω (dialū́ō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek δια- (dia-, “apart, asunder”) + λύω (lúō, “to loosen”).^[1][2] The verb λύω (lúō) goes back to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *lh₁u- (“to cut off, release”), and corresponds to Latin luō (“to pay, atone”), to which belongs solvō (“to loosen”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it of Scythian diviners twining and untwining strips of bark (4.67), of night parting those who fight (8.11), and of breaking up an assembly (7.10).^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Babiniotis notes that from antiquity the verb combined two kinds of sense, “to break up into parts” and “to destroy, abolish”.^[2] From “loose apart” came the breaking up of groups (dismissing a meeting, disbanding an army or a fleet),^[4][5] and the dissolving of things into their elements, and Plato defines death as the separation (διάλυσις) of soul and body.^[4][5][2] From the parting of enemies came “to reconcile” (Thucydides, Demosthenes) and “to put an end to” enmity or slander, from untying a knotty question “to solve” a difficulty (Plato, Aristotle), and the settling of an account gave “to pay off” a debt (Herodotus, Demosthenes).^[4] In the Hippocratic writers it means to relax the body, and in Ptolemaic papyri the passive is used of people wasting away with hunger.^[4] In the passive it could also mean “to die” (Xenophon).^[4]

In the New Testament the passive is used of a crowd of followers that is dispersed.^[7] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the verb, with the popular form διαλύνω (dialýno), still found in dialects.^[8] The Modern Greek διαλύω (dialýo) is learned; its sense “to dissolve” (a substance in a liquid) follows French dissoudre.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of untwining bark, parting combatants, breaking up an assembly and paying off expenses.^[4][5][6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of disbanding a fleet and of reconciling enemies.^[4][6]
• 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it of relaxing the body.^[4][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of dissolving things into their elements and of solving a difficulty.^[4][5][6]
• 2nd century BC – Papyri use the passive of people wasting away with hunger.^[4][7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses the passive of followers who are dispersed.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek also has the form διαλύνω (dialýno).^[8]
• Modern Greek – διαλύω (dialýo) is a learned word; its sense “dissolve in a liquid” follows French.^[9][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To loosen one from another; to untwine; to part (persons) from one another.^[4][5]
2. To break up, dismiss (a meeting); to disband (an army or fleet); (passive) to disperse.^[4][5][6]
3. To dissolve into elements; to dismantle, destroy.^[4][5][7]
4. To reconcile (persons); to end (a war or enmity).^[4]
5. To put an end to, do away with.^[4][7]
6. To solve (a difficulty).^[4]
7. To pay off, discharge (a debt or expense).^[4]
8. To relax, weaken (the body); (passive) to waste away with hunger.^[4]
9. (passive) To die.^[4]

Word family

• διάλυσις (diálusis)
• διαλύτης (dialútēs)
• διαλυτικός (dialutikós)
• διαλυτός (dialutós)

Related words

• λύω (lúō)
• Modern Greek διαλύω (dialýo)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ 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 m n o p q r s t 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 g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens