κληρονομέω

Forms

κληρονομέω (klēronoméō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κληρονόμος (klēronómos, “heir”) + -έω (-éō).^[1][2][3] The noun is a compound of κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, allotted share”) and νέμω (némō, “to distribute, hold”).^[1] Beekes explains the lot as originally a shard or a piece of wood.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first appears in the Attic orators: Isocrates advises that one should inherit a father's friendship as one inherits his property, with the genitive of what is inherited.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Attic orators it is a legal term for inheriting an estate, including a woman who under Athenian law passed with it.^[6][5] Isocrates and Demosthenes also speak of inheriting friendships, honours or a loss of rights, and Lycurgus of a share in one's native land.^[6] Later Greek construes it with the accusative.^[5][6] From Posidonius on it also takes a person as object, meaning to be someone's heir.^[5][8] Polybius uses it more loosely for acquiring a reputation.^[5]

The Septuagint uses it 179 times, chiefly for Hebrew Biblical Hebrew ירש (yāraš): to inherit, to take possession of the promised land, and to dispossess its peoples.^[9][10][5] In the New Testament the meek inherit the earth, and the righteous inherit eternal life and the kingdom of God.^[10][5][8] Coptic borrowed it, recorded from AD 364.^[11]

Medieval vernacular Greek used κλερονομώ (kleronomó) for inheriting, acquiring, dividing land into lots and seizing someone's land.^[12] Modern Greek κληρονομώ (klironomó) means to inherit, and its figurative senses, such as inheriting traits, follow French hériter and English inherit.^[13]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates and Isaeus use it for inheriting an estate or a father's friendships.^[5][6][14]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes and Aristotle use it of inheritances in law.^[5][14]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for acquiring a reputation.^[5][14]
• AD 364 – The earliest dated Coptic manuscript with the borrowing is written.^[11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses κλερονομώ (kleronomó) for inheriting and for dividing land into lots.^[12]
• Modern Greek – κληρονομώ (klironomó) means to inherit, with figurative senses after French and English.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To inherit property, with the genitive in classical Greek and the accusative later.^[5][6]
2. To be an heir; with a person as object, to be someone's heir.^[5][8]
3. To acquire or obtain; to receive as one's rightful share.^[5][6]
4. (Septuagint) To take possession of a land, or to dispossess its people.^[9]
5. (New Testament) To receive what God has promised: the earth, eternal life, the kingdom.^[8][10][15]

Related words

• κληρονομία (klēronomíā)
• κληρονόμος (klēronómos)
• κλῆρος (klêros)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
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 g h i j k l m 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. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
11. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
15. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.