δύω

Forms

δῡ́ω (dū́ō) ^[1] Intransitive present also δύνω (dū́nō); root aorist ἔδυν, future middle δύσομαι, perfect δέδυκα.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *du̯eH- (“to dive, go in”), the root to which LIV assigns it;^[4] Beekes writes *deu- (“to go in, enter”).^[5] Its only clear cognate is the rare Vedic verb Sanskrit उपादुत्य (upādútya, “having put on”), with a prefix.^[5][6][1] The same root is possibly found in δείελος (deíelos, “of the evening”).^[5][1] The intransitive present δύνω (dū́nō) is a nasal formation.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used of going into a place or a crowd, of plunging into the sea, of the sun and stars setting, of putting on armour and clothes, and of grief or rage that comes over a person.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The active forms δύω and ἔδυσα are causal, “to make sink”, but this present is rare (Theophrastus); the commoner intransitive present is δύνω, and the middle δύομαι and the root aorist ἔδυν mean “to go in, sink”.^[2][3] Homer often uses it of the sun going down, and “before the sun has set” became a set phrase in Herodotus and the orators; the setting sun also marks the West.^[3][2] Thucydides uses it of divers, Plato of an island sinking beneath the sea, and Aeschylus figuratively of a house that founders like a ship.^[3][2] Plato uses the perfect participle of women who live withdrawn from view.^[3][2]

The Septuagint uses it of the setting sun and of going into a place.^[7] Its compounds, such as ἐνδύω (endúō) “put on” and ἐκδύω (ekdúō) “take off”, live on in Modern Greek.^[8] The learned Modern Greek δύω (dýo) is used of the sun or another heavenly body setting; the popular form is Modern Greek δύνω (dýno).^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of going into battle, of the setting sun and of putting on armour.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the phrase “before the sun has set”.^[3][2][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of divers.^[2][3][10]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses the causal present “to sink” something.^[2][10]
• Modern Greek – The learned verb δύω means to set, of the sun.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (causal, active) To make sink, plunge in.^[2]
2. To get or go into a place, a city or a house; to plunge into battle or a crowd.^[2][3]
3. Of a weapon, to penetrate the body.^[2][3]
4. To dive or sink beneath the sea or the earth; to go beneath the earth, to die.^[3][2]
5. Of the sun and stars, to set.^[2][3]
6. To put on armour or clothes.^[2][3]
7. Of grief, weariness or passion, to come over a person.^[2][3]

Word family

• ἄδυτος (ádutos)
• ἀναδύομαι (anadúomai)
• ἀποδύω (apodúō)
• δύπτω (dúptō)
• δύσις (dúsis)
• δύτης (dútēs)
• ἐκδύω (ekdúō)
• ἐνδύω (endúō)
• καταδύω (katadúō)
• τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs)
• ψαμμοδύτης (psammodútēs)

Usage notes

δύω is also an epic form of the numeral δύο (dúo) “two”, which has a separate source.^[5][2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge