Etymologically
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καλέω

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

κᾰλέω (kaléō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥h₁-, the zero grade of *kelh₁- (“to call”).[1][2] The disyllabic stem of the aorist καλέσαι (kalésai), beside ⟨κλη-⟩ in κέκλημαι (kéklēmai), κικλήσκω (kiklḗskō) and κλητός (klētós), points to a root with a laryngeal, which gave ⟨καλε-⟩ before a vowel.[2] Beekes suggests that the present was formed after the aorist; the LIV instead reconstructs an old present with the suffix ⟨*-éye-⟩.[2][1][3]

Cognate with Latin calō (“to announce, summon”), clāmō (“to shout”), clārus (“loud, clear”), Umbrian kařetu, Old High German hellan (“to resound”), Old Saxon halōn (“to call, fetch”), Old English hlōwan (“to low”) and Hittite kališš- (“to call, summon”).[2][1] The verb English low, of cattle, is related;[1] the likeness to English call is a coincidence.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for summoning, to the assembly or to Olympus, and for calling by name: “whom the gods call Briareus” (Iliad 1.403).[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Odyssey it also means to invite to one's house or to a meal, a sense the Iliad lacks.[4] Herodotus, Pindar and Aeschylus use it for invoking a god, and it is used for calling the gods as witnesses.[4] In Attic law it meant to summon before a court, and in the middle, of the plaintiff, to sue.[4] In the passive it means “to be called, be named”.[4][5]

The future καλέσω, instead of Attic καλῶ, is late Attic and Hellenistic, and it is the form of the New Testament.[2][5] There the verb means to name, to invite, and to call someone to a task or a new relationship.[6][7] The family includes κλῆσις (klêsis) “calling, invitation”, ἔγκλημα (énklēma) “accusation” and κλητήρ (klētḗr) “summoner, witness”.[2] It continues in Medieval Greek and as Modern Greek καλώ (kaló) “to invite, to call”.[8][9]

Timeline

  • Homer – It is used for summoning and for naming.[4]
  • Homer – The Odyssey uses it for inviting to a meal.[4]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for invoking Zeus.[4][10]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the middle for suing at law.[4][10]
  • 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for summoning before a court.[4][10]
  • Koine – The New Testament uses it for calling a person to a task.[6][7]
  • Modern Greek – It continues as καλώ.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To call, summon.[4][5]
  2. To invite (to one's house, to a meal).[4][6]
  3. To invoke (a god); to call (the gods) as witnesses.[4]
  4. (law) To summon before a court;[4] (middle) to sue.[4]
  5. To call by name, to name;[4] (passive) to be called, be named.[4][5]
  6. (New Testament) To call (someone) to a task or a new relationship.[6][7]

Word family

  • ἀνακαλέω (anakaléō)
  • ἀποκαλέω (apokaléō)
  • ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō)
  • εἰσκαλέω (eiskaléō)
  • ἐκκαλέω (ekkaléō)
  • παρακαλέω (parakaléō)
  • προσκαλέω (proskaléō)
  • κλῆσις (klêsis)
  • ἔγκλημα (énklēma)
  • κικλήσκω (kiklḗskō)
  • Latin calō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b c d United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
  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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge