κέλλω

Forms

κέλλω (kéllō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is usually taken as a present in ⟨-yo-⟩ of a root Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”), with κέλομαι (kélomai, “to urge on, call”) and κελεύω (keleúō, “to command”);^[2][3][4] the prose verb ὀκέλλω (okéllō) would then contain an old prefix ὀ- (o-).^[5][6] Outside Greek the closest forms are Sanskrit कलयति (kaláyati, “drives”) and Latin celer (“swift”), but their connection is uncertain: according to LIV the Sanskrit verb may belong to another root.^[5][2][1] LIV tentatively puts here the Homeric aorist ⟨ἐκέλσαμεν⟩ and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌽 (haldan, “to tend, keep”).^[4] Beekes also points to Tocharian B ⟨kalṣtär⟩, “goads”.^[5]

Beekes himself doubts that one verb is involved.^[5] Running a ship aground was the usual way of landing outside a harbour, a sense so concrete and technical that he takes (ὀ)κέλλω “to haul ashore”, with its “prothetic” vowel, as a separate Pre-Greek verb, distinct from the root of κέλομαι, “to drive, summon”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it only in the Odyssey, always of ships: to run a ship to land, and, intransitively, of ships putting to shore.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The verb is poetic; prose uses ὀκέλλω instead.^[7][9] Its attested forms are the aorist ἔκελσα and the future κέλσω; the present is cited only by grammarians.^[7][5] Aeschylus and Euripides use it for landing at a shore or a city, and figuratively for finding a safe haven, and Euripides also for ending one's voyage, that is, dying.^[9][7] Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of a seer guiding a crew to shore.^[9]

Dionysius of Halicarnassus is the only prose writer to use it, in an etymology of the name of the Celts.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses the aorist for running a ship ashore and for ships coming to land.^[8][7][10]
• 5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for landing on the shores of the Simoeis and at Argos.^[7][9]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it figuratively for setting foot in Argos and for dying.^[7][9]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of bringing a band of heroes to shore.^[7][9][11]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it to explain the name of the Celts.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring a ship to land, run it ashore.^[7][9][8]
2. To land at a shore or a city.^[9][7]
3. (intransitive) Of sailors or ships, to put to shore, come into harbour.^[7][9]
4. (figurative) To find a safe haven; to end one's voyage, to die.^[9]

Related words

• κέλομαι (kélomai)
• ὀκέλλω (okéllō)
• κελεύω (keleúō)
• κέλης (kélēs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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
3. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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