θέλω

Forms

θέλω (thélō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is ἐθέλω (ethélō) with the initial vowel lost (aphaeresis), the form usual in Aeolic, Ionic and Hellenistic Greek.^[2][1][3] Babiniotis takes the ἐ- (e-) of the longer form to be perhaps a prothetic vowel.^[4] Like the longer form, it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁gʷʰel- (“to wish”).^[2] It is a primary thematic present, extended with -η- (-ē-) in the other tenses (θελήσω (thelḗsō), ἠθέλησα (ēthélēsa)).^[2]

Cognate with Old Church Slavonic желѣти (želěti, “to wish, desire”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only ἐθέλω (ethélō), except for one variant reading in the Odyssey; θέλω is first secure in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and in Solon, meaning “to wish”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In the classical period θέλω was the regular form in Aeolic and in tragedy and common in Herodotus, while Attic prose and comedy kept the longer form.^[6] In comedy it appears only in set phrases such as ἢν θεὸς θέλῃ, “god willing”.^[6][5] It appears in Ionic inscriptions from Halicarnassus in the 5th century BC and Miletus in the 4th.^[5] Its derivative θέλημα (thélēma, “will”) is first found in Antiphon the Sophist, in the 5th century BC.^[2][4]

From about 250 BC θέλω is found in Attic inscriptions, and it is the usual form in the papyri, the Septuagint and the New Testament, which never uses the longer form.^[7] In the New Testament it has the same meaning as βούλομαι (boúlomai).^[7] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the verb, with the shortened forms ήθε (íthe) and θε να (the na) that survive in dialects.^[8] It lives on as Modern Greek θέλω (thélo).^[3][4]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Solon and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo have the form without ἐ-.^[5]
• 5th century BC – Tragedy uses it as the regular form, and Ionic inscriptions from Halicarnassus have it.^[6][5]
• 5th century BC – Antiphon the Sophist has the derivative θέλημα (thélēma).^[2][4]
• 3rd century BC – It appears in Attic inscriptions, from about 250 BC.^[7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses only this form, never ἐθέλω.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek keeps the verb, with shortened dialect forms.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The verb survives as Modern Greek θέλω (thélo).^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wish, desire; with an infinitive, to want to do something, or want someone to do it.^[6][7]
2. To be willing, inclined or content to do something.^[6]
3. Of personified things, in negative phrases: to be able to do something.^[6]
4. Of deeds and situations: to tend, be likely to result in something.^[6]
5. Of a word or a portent: to mean, signify.^[6]

Word family

• θέλημα (thélēma)
• θέλησις (thélēsis)

Related words

• βούλομαι (boúlomai)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
4. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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