κρέκω

Forms

κρέκω (krékō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kreḱ- (“to strike, beat”).^[1][2][3] It was first a weaving term, for striking the web, and was then carried over to striking a stringed instrument.^[3][4][5]

No other thematic present matches it in Greek.^[3][4] Germanic nouns point to a primary verb: Old Norse hræll (“staff for fastening the cloth”), Old English hrēol (“reel”), and, with a trace of Verner's law, hrægl (“cloth, garment”) and Old High German hregil (“garment”).^[3][4][5] Beekes finds the most promising comparison in the Slavic verbs for striking fire, Proto-Slavic *kresati (“to strike fire”), as the LIV does, while Balto-Slavic words for rags, shirts and looms are less certain.^[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sappho uses it of weaving at the loom.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its sense in weaving was perhaps “to strike the web” with the κερκίς (kerkís), the pin-beater, and so “to weave”: Euripides has it of weaving robes.^[7][6] From the loom it passed to music, to striking a lyre with the plectrum and then to playing any instrument: Aristophanes uses it of the aulos.^[6][7][3] With a song as object it means “to strike up, sing to an accompaniment” (Telestes, Theocritus), and in Aristophanes' Birds swans raise a cry with the beating of their wings.^[7][6]

The noun forms have the o-grade: κρόκη (krókē), the weft and woollen cloth, with κροκύς (krokús), a flock of wool; the e-grade is rare, in κρεγμός (kregmós), the sound of strings (Epicharmus), and κρεκάδια (krekádia), tapestries (Aristophanes).^[4][3]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it of weaving.^[6][7][8]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of weaving robes.^[6][9][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of playing the aulos and of swans' cries, and Telestes of striking up a hymn.^[6][7][8]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it of playing the barbitos.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To weave, perhaps first “to strike the web” with the pin-beater.^[6][7]
2. To strike a stringed instrument with the plectrum; to play an instrument, also a wind instrument.^[6][7]
3. With a song as object, to strike up, to sing to an accompaniment.^[7][6]
4. Of any sharp noise: to make a cry resound, as swans with their wings or a magpie.^[6][7]

Word family

• κρόκη (krókē)
• κρεκτός (krektós)
• κρεγμός (kregmós)

Related words

• English reel

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux