Etymologically
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εὖ

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /êu̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈeβ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈev/[1]

Forms

εὖ (eû) [1] Epic also ἐΰ (eú).[2][3] Mycenaean personal names begin with Mycenaean Greek e-u-, as in e-u-me-ne /Eumenēs/.[4]

Etymology

It is the neuter of the adjective ἐΰς (eǘs, “good”), used as an adverb, from Proto-Hellenic *ehu-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁su- (“good”).[1][4][3] Beekes compares Sanskrit सु (su-, “well”) and Hittite āššu- (“good”), from *h₁su-, but notes another possible source in *uesu- (“good”), the root of Sanskrit वसु (vásu-, “good”) and Avestan vohu-; the epic phrase “givers of good things” has a parallel in Sanskrit.[4] Babiniotis also considers a link with the root of εἰμί (eimí, “to be”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning well, thoroughly or properly, as when a warrior is bidden to sharpen his spear well; the epic form is also ἐΰ (eú).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the start it had both a practical sense, “competently, thoroughly”, and a moral one, “kindly, beneficially”, as in Homer's phrase for doing someone good.[2][3] Attic set it against κακῶς (kakôs, “badly”), and phrases such as “to do well” and “to fare well” became common.[3][6] In the New Testament it is used of doing good to others, but in Koine καλῶς (kalôs) became the usual word for “well”.[6]

As a first element it formed a great many compounds.[4] It was borrowed as the interjection Latin eu (“well done!”).[7] It survives only as a learned word, Modern Greek ευ (ef), and the compounding element ευ- is still productive.[8][5] English eu- comes from the same Greek words.[9]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for doing something well and thoroughly.[2][10]
  • 5th century BC – Thucydides sets it against κακῶς (kakôs).[3][11]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for doing good to someone.[6]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as the learned Modern Greek ευ (ef).[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Well, thoroughly, properly, competently.[2][3]
  2. In a kindly or beneficial way; to do someone good.[2][6]
  3. (with verbs of faring) Well, prosperously.[3][6]
  • ἐΰς (eǘs)
  • Latin eu

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge