θησαυρίζω

Forms

θησαυρίζω (thēsaurízō); aorist ἐθησαύρισα; perfect passive participle τεθησαυρισμένος^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure, storehouse”) + -ίζω (-ízō).^[3][4][5] Beekes considers the noun Pre-Greek beyond doubt, a technical loanword with no etymology.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Herodotus, who uses it of laying up money in safety and of laying by a corpse in a chamber.^[7][1][8]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it meant to put in storage: Xenophon has it of medicines and provisions, Theophrastus of fruit preserved in brine.^[7][1] The middle meant to store up for oneself, as Plato speaks of written records stored up as reminders.^[1] Philodemus uses it absolutely, to hoard.^[7]

The Septuagint uses it fifteen times, to store up or lay up treasure.^[9] In the New Testament the disciples are told not to store up treasures on earth, and Paul speaks of storing up wrath for oneself.^[2][10] A magical papyrus praises a god who hid the abyss away.^[11]

Latin borrowed it as thēsaurizō.^[6] In medieval Greek it meant to accumulate, to make someone rich, and, intransitively, to grow rich.^[12] Modern Greek θησαυρίζω (thisavrízo) mostly means to make a great deal of money, and rarely to collect something valuable.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of storing money and laying by a corpse.^[7][1][15]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of medicines and provisions, and Plato in the middle of storing up reminders.^[7][1][15]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it of preserving fruit.^[7][15]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of storing up treasures in heaven.^[2]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for accumulating and for growing rich.^[12]
• Modern Greek – It means chiefly to grow very rich.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To store or treasure up, to lay by in safety: money, provisions, a corpse.^[7][1]
2. Of fruit and the like, to preserve or pickle.^[7]
3. (middle) To store up for oneself.^[1]
4. (absolute) To hoard, lay up treasure.^[7][2]
5. (New Testament, figurative) To store up something for the future, such as wrath.^[2][10]
6. (magical papyri) To hide away, of a god.^[11]

Related words

• θησαυρός (thēsaurós)
• Latin thēsaurizō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
4. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
11. ^ a b Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
15. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge