καταλέγω

Forms

κᾰτᾰλέγω (katalégō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κατά (katá) + λέγω (légō, “to choose, to say”).^[1][2] The verb λέγω (légō) goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to tell a story through in order, to go over things in detail, and Homer uses it only in the future and the first aorist.^[4][2] In the Iliad a speaker's own follies are recounted, and in the Odyssey the suitors are counted up one by one.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it often, to recount, to recite oracles and to reckon up a line of kings or one's own pedigree.^[4][5] From listing names came the sense “to enlist, enrol”: Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides and Lysias use it for levying hoplites and other soldiers, and the list of men liable for service was the κατάλογος (katálogos).^[4][5] Plato uses it for reckoning a person among the rich, and other authors for appointing someone to an office.^[4][5]

The Septuagint uses it once for bringing a charge against someone.^[6][7] In medieval vernacular Greek it meant to narrate and to describe.^[8] Modern Greek καταλέγω (katalégo) means to count someone among others, to include.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for recounting in order.^[2][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for reciting oracles, listing kings and enlisting men.^[4][5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Lysias use it for levying hoplites.^[4][5][11]
• 4th century BC – Plato uses it for counting people as rich.^[4][5][11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for narrating and describing.^[8]
• Modern Greek – καταλέγω (katalégo) means to count among, include.^[9][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To recount, tell at length and in order.^[4][5][2]
2. To describe, tell about; to give instructions.^[5]
3. To recite, repeat (oracles, verses, prayers).^[4][5]
4. To enumerate, reckon up (suitors, a line of kings, one's ancestors).^[4][5]
5. To reckon or count as.^[4][5]
6. To pick out, appoint (for an office or duty).^[5]
7. To enlist, enrol; to levy soldiers; in the middle, to enrol for oneself.^[4][5]
8. (Septuagint) To accuse someone of something.^[6]

Word family

• ἐγκαταλέγω (enkatalégō)
• καταλογάδην (katalogádēn)
• καταλογεύς (katalogeús)
• καταλογή (katalogḗ)
• καταλογίζομαι (katalogízomai)
• κατάλογος (katálogos)
• προκαταλέγομαι (prokatalégomai)
• προσκαταλέγω (proskatalégō)
• κατάλεγμα (katálegma)
• καταλογεῖον (katalogeîon)

Related words

• English catalogue

Usage notes

LSJ lists a separate verb “to lay down”, whose middle and passive forms mean “to lie down to rest” in Homer, under καταλέχομαι (katalékhomai), and Cunliffe likewise separates it from this verb.^[4][2] Hesychius glosses the middle as lamenting the dead.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
3. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
7. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
10. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge