κεύθω

Forms

κεύθω (keúthō) ^[1] Also κευθάνω (Iliad 3.453) and κυνθάνει “hides” (Hesychius).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kéutʰō,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewdʰ- (“to cover, hide”).^[4][1][2] The LIV sets it up as a full-grade thematic present of *kewdʰ- (“to hide”), with the root aorist κύθε (kúthe) and the perfect κέκευθα (kékeutha), and perhaps a nasal present in Hesychius' gloss κυνθάνω (kunthánō).^[5] It notes that the Greek and Iranian forms would also fit *gʰewdʰ-, but that Proto-Germanic *huzdą (“treasure”) and Latin custōs (“guard”) clearly have *k-.^[5]

Beekes, Frisk and Chantraine compare Old English hȳdan (the English word hide), and Sanskrit कुहर (kuhara, “cave”) and कुहू (kuhū́, “new moon”), the “hidden” moon.^[4][3][2][1] The LIV, following Szemerényi, takes the Old English verb as derived from hȳd (“skin”) and keeps it apart.^[5] Old Armenian սուզանեմ (suzanem, “to dive, hide”) would need an initial palatal *ḱ-, which does not fit the other words.^[4][3] Beside these, several Greek forms with a final ⟨τ⟩, such as κύτος (kútos) and σκῦτος (skûtos), may belong to the same root.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Homeric verb of covering and concealing: the Iliad uses it of a man covered by Hades (23.244) and of all that a city holds within it (22.118), and the Odyssey of the earth that covers a dead man (3.16), of a ship's cargo, and of hiding tears or thoughts.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It remained a poetic verb.^[7] Its favourite subject is the grave: in Aeschylus' Prometheus the earth does not hide a man even when he is dead, and the tragedians use it of the earth or an urn holding the dead.^[7][8] The perfect could be intransitive, “to lie buried”.^[2] It also means to keep something secret or hold back tears and laughter, to keep a person in the dark, and, more weakly, to harbour a plan or a hatred.^[8] Thucydides and Aeschines have it in quoted verse.^[8]

Its nouns κεῦθος (keûthos), κευθμών (keuthmṓn) and κευθμός (keuthmós) mean “hiding place, hollow, depths”, mostly in poetry.^[3][2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for covering, containing and concealing.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony has the pluperfect ἐκεκεύθει.^[7][9][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the earth covering the dead.^[7][10]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of the earth covering the dead.^[7][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Antimachus has the passive participle κεκυθημένη.^[7][10]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses the passive of a tripod lying hidden in the earth.^[8][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hide from view, conceal; of a cave, the earth or a folded tablet, to hold secretly.^[8][7]
2. To keep secret, conceal one's thoughts or plans; to hold back tears or laughter.^[8][6]
3. To keep someone in the dark about something.^[8]
4. Of the earth or an urn, to cover, hold the dead; passive, to lie hidden in Hades.^[8][7]
5. To hold, contain; to harbour a plan or a feeling.^[6][8]

Word family

• ἐπικεύθω (epikeúthō)
• κευθμός (keuthmós)
• κευθμών (keuthmṓn)
• κεῦθος (keûthos)
• ἀμφικεύθω (amphikeúthō)

Related words

• κύτος (kútos)
• σκῦτος (skûtos)
• Latin custōs
• English hide

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge