κλύζω

Forms

κλῠ́ζω (klúzō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlewH- (“to wash, purify”).^[1][2] Beekes thinks the present is an enlargement in -ζω (-zō) made within Greek, and the nouns with a dental stem such as κλύδων (klúdōn) back-formations from it; the alternative is that κλύζω is a denominative of those nouns.^[2] Germanic also has an enlargement with a dental, in Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌿𐍄𐍂𐍃 (hlūtrs, “clean, pure”), while Welsh clir (“clear, pure”), Latin cluō (“to cleanse”) and Lithuanian šlúoti (“to sweep, wipe”) have none.^[2][1] Greek shows no trace of a long ⟨ῡ⟩, which makes the exact reconstruction difficult.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad and the Odyssey the passive is used of the sea surging up towards the huts, or dashed high by a falling rock.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In early poetry the subject is the sea, which washes over a shore or a person, or surges up; the Homeric Hymn to Apollo already has the active.^[3][4] Aeschylus uses it of suffering that surges like a wave.^[4] From washing over came washing away and cleansing: Euripides has the sea that “washes away all the ills of men”, and Xenophon uses it of rinsing a cup.^[3][4]

In Hippocratic medicine it meant to give an enema, and its derivatives κλύσμα (klúsma) and κλυστήρ (klustḗr) named the enema and the syringe.^[3][2] Inscriptions from Delos and Theocritus use it of coating wood with wax.^[3] The compound κατακλύζω (kataklúzō) “to flood” gave κατακλυσμός (kataklusmós) “deluge”, continued as a learned word in Modern Greek.^[5] Medieval vernacular Greek kept κλύζω itself.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the passive of the sea surging up.^[3][4]
• 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Apollo uses the active of a wave washing over someone.^[3][4]
• 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it of giving an enema, and Euripides of the sea washing away evils.^[3][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of rinsing out a cup.^[3][4][7]
• 3rd century BC – Delian inscriptions use it of coating with wax.^[3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the passive of land washed by the sea.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of the sea or waves, to wash over, dash against, or intransitively to surge, splash.^[3][4]
2. (passive) Of the sea, to surge up; of land, to be washed by the sea.^[3][4]
3. To wash away, purge, cleanse.^[3]
4. To rinse out; to put water into the ears to cleanse them.^[3][4]
5. (medicine) To drench with an enema.^[3]
6. To coat with wax.^[3]

Word family

• ἀνακλύζω (anaklúzō)
• ἀποκλύζω (apoklúzō)
• διακλύζω (diaklúzō)
• ἐκκλύζω (ekklúzō)
• ἐπικλύζω (epiklúzō)
• κατακλύζω (kataklúzō)
• περικλύζω (periklúzō)
• προσκλύζω (prosklúzō)
• εἰσκλύζω (eisklúzō)
• παρακλύζω (paraklúzō)

Related words

• κλύδων (klúdōn)
• κλύσις (klúsis)
• κλύσμα (klúsma)
• κλυστήρ (klustḗr)
• σύγκλυς (súnklus)
• Latin cluō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge