κωμάζω

Forms

κωμάζω (kōmázō), Doric κωμάσδω; future κωμάσω, also κωμάσομαι (Doric κωμάξομαι); aorist ἐκώμασα (Doric ἐκώμαξα); perfect κεκώμακα^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κῶμος (kômos, “revel, band of revellers”) + -άζω (-ázō), “to take part in a revel”.^[4][1][5]

The origin of κῶμος (kômos) is obscure, and because its early meaning is unclear every proposal remains a guess.^[4][6][7] Beekes mentions a link with Sanskrit शंसति (śáṃsati, “to declare, praise”) through Proto-Indo-European *ḱómso-, but himself suggests that the noun is a Pre-Greek word.^[4][8] Others derive it from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂-mo-, the source of Sanskrit काम (kā́ma, “wish, desire”) and Latin cārus (“dear”).^[8] Chantraine and older scholars connected it with κώμη (kṓmē, “village”), with an original sense “band, troop”, and Osthoff with Latin cibus (“food”), taking the first sense to be “feast”.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Shield attributed to Hesiod, where young men revel to the music of the aulos.^[2][1][9]

Semantic evolution

In archaic lyric and elegy the verb is used of drinking parties and of the night-time revel through the streets, which often ended at a beloved's door: Alcaeus and Theognis use it so, and later Isaeus, Theocritus and Athenaeus use it of men who serenade women or force their way in.^[1][2] In Pindar it is the procession and song that honour a victor at the games, and the poet and the victor's friends “revel” for him; with an object it means to celebrate a victor, a festival or Zeus as patron of the games.^[10][1][2] Euripides uses it of a victor who celebrates with a song of victory.^[2][1]

In Attic prose it keeps the sense of drunken merrymaking: Plato pairs it with drunkenness and Lysias speaks of revelling in broad daylight.^[2][1] Plutarch uses it figuratively of reckless, unseemly behaviour.^[1] In Roman Egypt it became the word for taking part in religious processions, and transitively for carrying a god's image or shrine in procession.^[2] Late poets use it of any sudden irruption, as of ruin bursting into a city.^[2] It is most frequent in texts of the 2nd century AD.^[9] Πάπυρος records it only for the ancient language.^[11]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – The Shield attributed to Hesiod uses it of young men revelling to the aulos.^[2][1][12]
• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it of a lover's revel.^[2][1][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the revel and song in honour of a victor at the games.^[10][2][12]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of celebrating a victory with a song.^[2][1][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of revelling with drunkenness, and Isaeus of men who force their way in on married women.^[2][1][12]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of going to serenade a girl.^[2][1][12]
• 2nd century AD – Papyri from Egypt use it of taking part in religious processions, and the paroemiographers record proverbs built on it.^[2][12]
• 3rd century AD – Papyri use it transitively of carrying sacred images in procession, and in the passive of goddesses carried so.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To revel, make merry with music and song, as young people did at public celebrations.^[2][1]
2. To take part in a drunken revel, at a symposium or roaming the streets at night.^[1][2]
3. To go in a festive procession, especially to celebrate a victor at the games; with an object, to celebrate a victor, a festival or a god with revelry and song.^[2][1][10]
4. Of lovers, to burst in on a woman like a reveller, to serenade her at her door.^[2][1]
5. Generally, to burst in; of disaster or grief, to break in upon.^[2]
6. (Roman Egypt) To take part in religious processions; with an object, to carry an image or shrine in procession.^[2]

Word family

• κωμαστής (kōmastḗs)
• κωμασία (kōmasía)
• κωμαστήριον (kōmastḗrion)
• κωμαστικός (kōmastikós)
• συγκωμάζω (sunkōmázō)

Related words

• κῶμος (kômos)
• κωμῳδία (kōmōidía)
• κωμικός (kōmikós)
• σύγκωμος (súnkōmos)

Usage notes

Two proverbs use the aorist: “a pig went revelling”, of someone clumsy in a delicate place (Diogenianus), and “you went revelling among bees”, said to someone who has stirred up a swarm of trouble (Zenobius).^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c 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. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
11. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
12. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge