Etymologically
Log in

κεράννυμι

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ke.rán.nyː.mi/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ceˈran.ny.mi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ceˈran.ny.mi/[1]

Forms

κερᾰ́ννῡμῐ (keránnūmi) [1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“to mix”),[2][3] a two-syllable root whose laryngeal shows in the verbal adjective ἄκρατος (ákrātos, “unmixed”), which matches Sanskrit आशीर्त (ā́-śīr-ta-, “mixed”).[2][3] Avestan sar- (“to unite”) also belongs here.[2]

The old aorist κεράσαι (kerásai) gave rise to new presents, κεραίω (keraíō), κεράω (keráō) and κεράννυμι, and to the forms with an analogical σ, while κρᾱθῆναι (krāthênai) and κέκρᾱμαι (kékrāmai) are the older ones.[2][3] The parallel present κίρνημι (kírnēmi) has a secondary vowel (schwa secundum) that kept the /r/ from becoming syllabic.[2] Beekes, following Narten, does not connect the nasal present Sanskrit श्रीणाति (śrīṇā́ti), which Frisk compares.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to mix wine with water in the mixing bowl, and also to mix the bowl itself or to temper bathwater to a pleasant warmth.[4][5] Calypso mixes red nectar for Hermes.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Mixing wine with water remained the main sense: Aristophanes speaks of a cup mixed half and half.[5][6] Pindar uses it for devising a boast, and Plato for blending pleasure with envy and for putting together men's souls.[6][5] In the Book of Revelation it means to mix a drink and give it to someone.[7][5]

Derivatives include κρᾶσις (krâsis, “mixture”), κρᾶμα (krâma, “mixture, alloy”) and κρατήρ (krātḗr, “mixing bowl”).[3] A diminutive of κρᾶσις, *κρασίον, gave Modern Greek κρασί (krasí, “wine”).[3] The medieval verb Byzantine Greek κερνώ (kernó), “to treat someone to a drink”, goes back to κεράννυμι according to Triantafyllidis and Kriaras, but Babiniotis derives it from κιρνάω (kirnáō).[8][9][10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for mixing wine in the bowl, and the Odyssey for mixing nectar.[4][5]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for devising a boast.[6][11]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for blending qualities and souls.[5][6][11]
  • 1st century AD – The Book of Revelation uses it for mixing a cup for someone.[7][5]
  • Modern Greek – κερνώ (kernó) means to treat a guest to a drink or a sweet.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To mix wine with water, to prepare a bowl of wine.[6][5]
  2. To temper by mixing, as of bathwater.[5][4]
  3. To create by blending, to devise or put together.[6]
  4. To blend or combine different things or qualities.[6][5]
  5. (New Testament) To mix a drink and give it to someone.[7][5]

Word family

  • ἄκρατος (ákrātos)
  • ἀνακεράννυμι (anakeránnumi)
  • ἐγκεράννυμι (enkeránnumi)
  • ἐκκεράννυμι (ekkeránnumi)
  • ἐπικεράννυμι (epikeránnumi)
  • κρᾶμα (krâma)
  • κρᾶσις (krâsis)
  • κρατήρ (krātḗr)
  • μελίκρατον (melíkrāton)
  • κίρνημι (kírnēmi)

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d e f Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge