δύναμαι

Forms

δῠ́νᾰμαι (dúnamai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is probably a present with a nasal infix, ⟨δύ-ν-α-μαι⟩, like λίναμαι (línamai).^[2][3][4] The nasal spread from the present to the other tenses and to the nouns, such as δύναμις (dúnamis, “power”); a ⟨σ⟩ was added in δυνάστης (dunástēs, “ruler”).^[2][4] Wiktionary takes it as inherited from Proto-Hellenic *dunamai, from a nasal-infixed form of Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to fit together”).^[1] LIV reconstructs this root, “to join together”, and connects Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “to make”) and a Tocharian B preterite ⟨tsuwa⟩, “joined”.^[2][5]

The stem without the nasal would be ⟨δυα-⟩, which formally matches δήν (dḗn, “long”) and δηρός (dērós, “long-lasting”), but a satisfactory link in meaning has not been found.^[2][3] Frisk thought a basic sense “to move forward” could unite them.^[4] Cretan νύναμαι (núnamai) at Gortyn is the same verb, with the ⟨ν⟩ probably due to assimilation.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on in the sense “to be able”, usually with an infinitive, and in the Odyssey with a negative, of not bringing oneself to do something.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

From “to be able” the verb came to mean “to have power or influence”, and in Thucydides and Euripides the participle names men of power.^[7] With ὡς and a superlative it means “as … as one can”, as in Thucydides.^[6][7] Of things it meant to be equivalent to something: words as good as deeds in Thucydides, a coin worth seven obols in Xenophon, a number of generations equal to ten thousand years in Herodotus, and a word that signifies something.^[6][7] Plato used it in mathematics for a line that can form a square, that is, a root.^[7] In papyri of the Roman period it is used for enjoying a legal right.^[6]

It is very common in the Septuagint and the New Testament for being able or daring to do something.^[8][9][10] Medieval Greek kept it, and it survives in a dialect; in Modern Greek δύναμαι (dýname) is a learned word.^[11][12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for being able to do something.^[6][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a number amounting to another, and for a word that signifies something.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides speaks of words as good as deeds.^[6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon says a Persian coin is worth seven obols.^[6][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a line that forms a square.^[7][14]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Papyri use it for enjoying a legal right.^[6]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek δύναμαι (dýname) survives as a learned word.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be able, have the power or strength (to do something).^[6][7][9]
2. (with a negative) To be unable to bring oneself, to bear (to do something).^[6][7]
3. To have power or influence.^[7]
4. (with ὡς and a superlative) As much as one can.^[6][7]
5. To be equivalent to; of money, to be worth; of a number, to amount to.^[6][7]
6. Of words, to signify, mean.^[7]
7. (mathematics) Of a line, to be the root of a square.^[7]
8. (papyri) To enjoy a legal right.^[6]

Word family

• δύναμις (dúnamis)
• δύνασις (dúnasis)
• δυνάστης (dunástēs)
• δυνατός (dunatós)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b 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
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b 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. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
14. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge