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θύω

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θύω1 to sacrifice

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /tʰy̌ː.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈθy.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈθy.o/[1]

Forms

θῡ́ω (thū́ō) [1]

Etymology

The verb “to sacrifice” is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰu̯eh₂- (“to make smoke”), so that it first meant “to make smoke”.[2][3][1] Chantraine compares Latin suffiō (“to fumigate”) and, with a suffix in /m/, fūmus (“smoke”) and Greek θυμός (thūmós); the religious sense is a Greek innovation.[3][1] Beekes thinks the Greek present was made thematic, and also notes the Latin present with a yod, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuH-ie/o-, and Hittite tuḫḫae-, which Kloekhorst takes to mean “to produce smoke”.[4] He leaves its origin open, because the Indo-European languages show a mass of forms and meanings under this root.[4]

It is often thought to be the same verb as θύω2 (thúō) “to rage”, with a common core such as “rush, whirl, smoke”, but Beekes finds this far from compelling and Chantraine calls it unprovable.[4][3] Beekes also separates θάνατος (thánatos) and ἀθύρω (athúrō), which Frisk and others joined to this verb.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to offer meat or drink to the gods by burning it: in the Iliad Patroclus is told to make an offering to the gods.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

From burning an offering it came to mean to sacrifice a victim, and simply to slaughter, as in Herodotus and Aristophanes.[5] Used alone it meant to offer sacrifice; with an object such as the name of a festival it meant to celebrate with sacrifices, and the middle meant to have a victim sacrificed and so to consult the gods.[5][6] Aeschylus uses it of wild beasts tearing prey.[5] A proverb, “to sacrifice to Hestia”, was said of misers, because no one shared in the offerings made to her.[5]

In the New Testament the main sense is to make a cultic offering; it is also used of slaughtering.[7] Its derivatives θυσία (thusíā) and θῦμα (thûma) are the nouns for the sacrifice and the victim.[5]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of burnt offerings to the gods.[5][8]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of wild beasts tearing their prey.[5][9]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for sacrificing victims and simply for slaughtering.[5][9]
  • Koine – The New Testament uses it of cultic offerings and of slaughter.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To offer meat or drink to the gods by burning it.[5][4]
  2. To sacrifice, slay a victim.[5][6]
  3. To slaughter.[5][7]
  4. Without an object, to offer sacrifice.[5]
  5. To celebrate a festival or event with sacrifices.[5]
  6. (middle) To have a victim sacrificed; to consult the gods by sacrifice.[5]
  7. (figurative) Of wild beasts, to tear in pieces.[5]

Word family

  • θυσία (thusíā)
  • θῦμα (thûma)
  • θυτήρ (thutḗr)
  • ἄθυτος (áthutos)

θύω2 to rush, rage

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /tʰy̌ː.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈθy.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈθy.o/[1]

Forms

θῡ́ω (thū́ō) [1]

Etymology

The verb “to rage” is perhaps inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewH- (“to shake, move violently”).[1][2] The related form θύνω (thū́nō) has been analysed as an old present with a nasal suffix and equated with Sanskrit धूनोति (dhūnóti, “to shake”),[4][3] and Wiktionary also compares Old Norse dýja (“to shake”).[1] Beekes doubts it, because it is unclear what shaking has to do with the meaning of this verb, and concludes that nothing can yet be said.[4]

Derivatives such as θυστάδες (thustádes) point to a stem in /-s-/, which may also lie behind Homeric θυίω (thuíō),[3][4] and Chantraine and Beekes both leave Latin furō (“to rage”) aside.[3][4] Beekes does not rule out that this stem is foreign.[4] Whether it was once the same verb as θύω1 (thúō) “to sacrifice” is unproven.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is said of persons raging, as of a man raging in his baneful mind in the first book of the Iliad, and of rivers and the sea seething with their swell.[5][8]

Semantic evolution

Homer and Hesiod use it of winds that storm, of a swollen river or a wind-swept sea that seethes, of the wake of a ship, and of the ground seething with blood,[5] and Pindar and Aeschylus use it of persons raging.[5][3] Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of a beating heart and, with an infinitive, for an eager desire,[5] while Callimachus uses it of a horse and Nicander of a serpent.[5] The verb is poetic, and later epic poets may have used the form θυίω (thuíō) instead.[5][3]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of raging warriors, seething rivers and storming winds.[5][8]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of winds and the sea.[5][9]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of a person raging with wrath.[5][9]
  • 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of a beating heart and of eager desire.[5][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of wind and water, to rage, seethe, storm.[5][4]
  2. Of persons, to rage, storm.[5]
  3. Of the heart, to beat violently.[5]
  4. With an infinitive, to desire eagerly.[5]

Usage notes

Beekes notes that the uncertainty between θύω “to rage” and θύω “to sacrifice” runs through the derivatives, which cannot always be assigned to one of them.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 i j k l m n 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b c 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 c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  9. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge