κεραΐζω

Forms

κεραΐζω (keraḯzō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“to damage, break”), through a two-syllable stem κερα- (kera-) extended with -ίζω (-ízō).^[2][1] All its other forms are built on this secondary present, which probably replaced an older primary verb,^[2][3][4] just as δαΐζω (daḯzō) “to cut apart” extends δαίω (daíō).^[3]

The same stem has an exact counterpart in the aorist Sanskrit अशारीत् (aśarīt) and in the preterite Old Irish do-cer (“he fell”), and the Sanskrit nasal present शृणाति (śṛṇā́ti, “breaks”) continues the old primary verb.^[2][3][4] Frisk and Chantraine also compare Old Irish ar-a-chrin (“perishes, falls apart”), a connection that Beekes notes is no longer accepted.^[2][3][4] In Greek the stem is also found in ἀκέραιος (akéraios) “unharmed” and perhaps in ἀκήρατος (akḗratos).^[2][3] Beekes treats κεραυνός (keraunós) “thunderbolt” as an independent formation and separates κήρ (kḗr) “death”, while Chantraine thinks the thunderbolt is certainly related.^[2][4]

Ancient scholars derived it from κέρας (kéras) “horn”, as if of animals that strike with their horns, from the word for “death” named above, or from κείρω (keírō) “to cut”.^[5] Cunliffe and LSJ still compare the verb for “to cut”.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it means to cut down and slay enemies and to ravage or sack a city or a farmstead; a lion “ravages” the folds of men.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed mostly poetic.^[4] Herodotus used it in prose for sacking a city and a house and for sinking ships, and also for plundering goods.^[8][7] Pindar used it of killing animals and of Zeus bringing down Typhon, and Euripides of marriage beds wrecked by deaths.^[8]

Later prose writers such as Josephus and Aelian still used it for plundering houses and stores.^[7][4] The derivatives were very rare: κεραϊστής (keraïstḗs) “destroyer” is an epithet of Hermes found once, in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, and κεραϊσμός (keraïsmós) “destruction” is late.^[4][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of slaying warriors and sacking cities.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of killing animals.^[8][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of sacking Sardis and of sinking ships.^[7][8][9]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses the passive of marriage beds wrecked by death.^[8][9]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Josephus uses it of plundering houses.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ravage, sack or lay waste a city or dwellings.^[7][8][6]
2. To cut down, slay; of a warrior, to wreak havoc among the enemy; of lions, to prey on.^[6][8]
3. To destroy or sink ships.^[8]
4. To plunder, carry off goods or people.^[8][7]

Word family

• κεραϊστής (keraïstḗs)
• κεραϊσμός (keraïsmós)

Related words

• ἀκέραιος (akéraios)
• κεραυνός (keraunós)
• δαΐζω (daḯzō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 e f g 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
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge