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εἴρω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word εἴρω

εἴρω1 to fasten, string together

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Homer, Odyssey
Inherited from
Proto-Hellenic *héřřō
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *ser-

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ěː.rɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈi.ro/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈi.ro/[1]

Forms

εἴρω (eírō) [1] Aorist εἶρα; epic perfect passive participle ἐερμένος, Ionic εἰρμένος; epic pluperfect passive ἔερτο; perfect active -εἶρκα in a compound in Xenophon.[2][3]

Etymology

The verb “to string” is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *héřřō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, string together”), a full-grade present with the suffix *-ye-.[1][4][5] It corresponds to Latin serō (“to join, string together”), a thematic present of the same root.[4][6] Further traces of the root are Oscan aserum, Old Irish sernaid, Old Lithuanian sėris (“thread”), Old Norse sørvi (“collar”) and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌰 (sarwa, “weapons, equipment”).[4]

This etymology requires that the verb lost its rough breathing, which Beekes and Frisk explain by the rarity of the simple verb beside compounds such as συνείρω (suneírō); the Etymologicum Magnum does record an aspirated εἵρω (heírō).[4][6] The o-grade noun ὅρμος (hórmos, “chain, necklace”) and ἕρμα (hérma, “earring”) kept the aspiration.[7][6] LSJ calls the origin doubtful, comparing either the Latin verb or Lithuanian vérti (“to thread”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the epic perfect and pluperfect passive, both in the Odyssey and both of a gold necklace “strung with” pieces of amber (18.296, 15.460).[2][8][7]

Semantic evolution

After Homer the active appears: Pindar strings garlands (Nemean 7.77), and the verb is used above all in compounds, with ἀν-, δι-, ἐν-, ἐξ- and συν-.[2][3][7] It was applied to speech, “to string words together”: Philo, Josephus (of a lament), Philostratus and Sextus Empiricus use it so.[2][7] Aristotle calls the continuous, running style of prose, without balanced periods, λέξις εἰρομένη (Rhetoric 1409a29), and Plotinus calls a well-ordered system τὸ εὖ εἰρόμενον.[2][3] In papyri of the 3rd century AD the participle εἰρόμενον is a dossier of documents.[2]

Later lexica gloss it as “to join”, and derive εἱρμός (heirmós, “series, connection”) from it.[9][10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Odyssey uses the perfect passive of a necklace strung with amber.[2][8]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the active, of stringing garlands.[2][7]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle names the “running” style of prose with its passive participle.[2][7]
  • 1st century AD – Josephus uses it of stringing together a lament.[2][7]
  • 3rd century AD – Plotinus uses it of a connected system; papyri use the participle for a dossier of documents.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To string, fasten together in a row; in Homer only the perfect passive, “strung with”.[2][8][7]
  2. To put, insert (the neck into a noose).[2][7]
  3. Of words, to string together, compose in sequence; passive participle, of a continuous, running style.[2][3]
  4. (papyri) The participle as a noun: a dossier of documents.[2]

Word family

  • ἕρμα (hérma)
  • ὅρμος (hórmos)
  • εἱρμός (heirmós)
  • ἀνείρω (aneírō)
  • διείρω (dieírō)
  • ἐνείρω (eneírō)
  • ἐξείρω (exeírō)
  • συνείρω (suneírō)
  • περιείρω (perieírō)
  • προσείρω (proseírō)

εἴρω2 to say, speak

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Homer, Odyssey
Inherited from
Proto-Hellenic *wéřřō
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *werh₁-

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ěː.rɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈi.ro/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈi.ro/[1]

Forms

εἴρω (eírō) [1]

Etymology

The verb “to say” is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wéřřō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wéryeti (“to be speaking (solemnly)”), a present with the suffix *-ye- from the root *werh₁- (“to speak”).[1][4][5] Beekes derives all the forms of the family from this two-syllable root, the present coming from *u̯erh₁-i̯e- by Pinault's rule, which drops a laryngeal between a consonant and *y; he compares the present Hittite u̯erii̯e/a-zi (“to call, name, order”).[4] Chantraine and Frisk suggest instead that the rare present was made beside the future ἐρέω (eréō), and trace the rest of the family to a short stem in the future and a long one in ῥῆμα (rhêma, “word”), ῥῆσις (rhêsis, “speech”) and ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr, “speaker”).[3][6]

Cognate with Latin verbum (“word”) and Old English word, and perhaps Sanskrit व्रत (vratá, “vow, command”) and Avestan uruuāta (“pronouncement, order”);[1][4][7] Russian врать (vratʹ, “to lie”) has also been connected.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the active present occurs only in the Odyssey and only in the first person: “I say this to the suitors” (2.162), “I tell you the truth” (11.137).[2][8][7] LSJ takes the middle of the Iliad (1.513) in the same sense, but Chantraine and Frisk assign it to εἴρομαι (eíromai, “to ask”).[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Bacchylides uses the imperfect εἶρεν as an aorist, “he said”.[7][6] The present stayed rare; the other tenses of the family, the future ἐρῶ (erô) and the perfect εἴρηκα (eírēka), served as tenses of “to say” beside λέγω (légō) and εἶπον (eîpon).[6][11] Plato's Cratylus remarks that εἴρειν means the same as λέγειν, “to speak” (398d), and Menander still uses the present.[7] Aratus has the passive εἴρεται, “it is said”, made from the perfect εἴρηται, and uses the active of the moon “showing” the day of the month.[2][3][7]

The Etymologicum Magnum glosses it both as “to say” and as “to ask”.[12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Odyssey has the present in the first person, “I say”.[2][8]
  • 5th century BC – Bacchylides uses the imperfect as an aorist.[7]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Cratylus equates it with “to speak”.[7]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses the passive “it is said” and the sense “to indicate”, and Menander uses the present.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To say, speak, tell.[2][7][11]
  2. Passive, third person: it is said.[2]
  3. To indicate, show (of the moon marking the day of the month).[7]

Word family

Usage notes

LSJ also enters an unattested *εἴρω (C), “to ask”, only to refer to the active forms filed under ἐρέω (eréō) and the middle ones under ἔρομαι (éromai) and ἐπείρομαι (epeíromai).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 s t u v w x 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 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 d e f g h 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
  5. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  8. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  9. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
  10. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
  11. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
  12. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Εἴρω.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%B5%E1%BC%B4%CF%81%CF%89. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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