καταλύω

Forms

κᾰτᾰλῡ́ω (katalū́ō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) + λύω (lúō, “to loosen”).^[1][2][3] The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- (“to cut off, set free”) (Beekes *lh₁u-), and is cognate with Latin luō (“to atone, pay”) and Sanskrit लुनाति (lunā́ti, “cuts”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it in two senses: in the Iliad Zeus has “brought down the heads of many cities”, and in the Odyssey horses are unyoked.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

From destroying cities and walls it came to mean dissolving and putting down political systems: Herodotus speaks of putting down a kingdom, Thucydides and Aristophanes of overthrowing the democracy, and it was used for deposing a tyrant and disbanding a council or an army.^[5][2] The middle meant to end a war and make peace.^[6] From unyoking the animals at the end of a journey it came to mean to halt, to lodge: in Plato's Protagoras the sophist is staying with Callias.^[2][6] The noun κατάλυμα (katáluma) “lodging” comes from this sense.^[2]

In the New Testament it is used of tearing down the temple and of a stone thrown down from a building, of abolishing the law, and of lodging for the night.^[7] In Byzantine Church usage it took the sense of breaking a fast, and Modern Greek καταλύω (katalío) means to abolish or overthrow, to stay at a hotel, and (after French catalyser) to catalyse.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of destroying cities, and the Odyssey of unyoking horses.^[3][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of putting down a kingdom and disbanding a fleet, and Thucydides of overthrowing tyrants.^[5][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it intransitively, of staying with a host.^[2][9]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it of destroying the temple and of lodging.^[7]
• Medieval Greek – The Church uses it of breaking a fast.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned καταλύω (katalío) means to abolish, to stay at a place, and in chemistry to catalyse.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To unyoke or unharness (horses); to loosen.^[3][1]
2. To bring down, destroy (cities, walls, buildings).^[5][3][7]
3. To dissolve, put down, abolish (a government, a law, an office); to depose a ruler; to disband a council or army.^[5][7]
4. To put an end to; middle, to end a war, make peace.^[1][6]
5. (intransitive) To halt on a journey, lodge, stay with someone.^[2][7][6]

Word family

• κατάλυμα (katáluma)
• καταλύσιμος (katalúsimos)
• κατάλυσις (katálusis)
• καταλύτης (katalútēs)
• καταλυτέος (katalutéos)
• καταλυτήρ (katalutḗr)
• καταλυτήριον (katalutḗrion)
• καταλυτής (katalutḗs)
• καταλυτικός (katalutikós)

Related words

• λύω (lúō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge