κλείω

Forms

κλείω (kleíō) ^[1] Ionic and epic κληΐω (aorist ἐκλήϊσα), Old Attic κλῄω, Doric (Theocritus) κλᾴζω; late κλῄζω.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek κλείς (kleís, “key, bolt”), older κλῄς (klḗis), epic and Ionic κληΐς (klēḯs).^[2][4] The noun is an enlargement of a stem in -ῑ- that still shows in the verb κληΐω (klēḯō).^[2] Debrunner, cited by Chantraine, held that the old denominative was rather κληΐζω (klēḯzō), and the present in -ίω a remake on its aorist.^[2][4] Beekes traces the noun to Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u- (“lock, hook”), which also gave Latin clāvis (“key”) and clāvus (“nail”).^[2] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Hellenic *klāyyō and compares claudō (“to shut”).^[1] Slavic Old Church Slavonic ключь (ključĭ, “key”) points to a variant *kleu-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Odyssey has the Ionic aorist ἐκλήϊσα for shutting doors.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it is to shut or block (Thucydides of shutting the harbour entrances with ships), to shut in or enclose a city, and to confine; it was used most often with a prefix: ἀπο-, κατα-, συγ-.^[3][2] In the New Testament it is shutting doors and gates, and figuratively shutting the sky so that no rain falls.^[5]

Medieval Greek remade it as κλείνω on the aorist stem κλεισ-, and this is the modern verb Modern Greek κλείνω (klíno).^[6][7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses the Ionic aorist for shutting doors.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for blocking harbour entrances with ships.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for shutting doors, gates and the sky.^[5]
• Middle Ages – The vernacular remakes it as κλείνω.^[6][7]
• Modern Greek – κλείνω (klíno) means to close.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shut, close, block up (a door, a strait, a harbour).^[3][5]
2. To shut in, enclose (a city with towers).^[3]
3. To confine, or in the passive to be held fast.^[3]
4. To deliver someone bound into another's hands.^[3]

Word family

• ἀποκλείω (apokleíō)
• ἐγκλείω (enkleíō)
• ἐκκλείω (ekkleíō)
• κατακλείω (katakleíō)
• παρακλείω (parakleíō)
• περικλείω (perikleíō)
• συγκλείω (sunkleíō)
• ἐπικλείω (epikleíō)
• κλειστός (kleistós)

Related words

• κλεῖθρον (kleîthron)
• κλείς (kleís)
• κλοιός (kloiós)

Usage notes

Epic κλείω is also a separate verb, a form of κλέω (kléō) “to celebrate, make famous”, and in LSJ an epic form of καλέω (kaléō) “to call”.^[3][2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr