Etymologically
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λήθη

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /lɛ̌ː.tʰɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈli.θi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈli.θi/[1]

Forms

λήθη (lḗthē) f (genitive λήθης); first declension[1] Doric λάθα.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *lā́tʰā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *léh₂dʰeh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to be hidden”).[1] It is a noun formed from the present λήθω (lḗthō), Doric λάθω (láthō), which stands beside the zero-grade aorist λαθεῖν (latheîn) at the base of the verb's system; the nasal present λανθάνω (lanthánō) is a later formation, perhaps made after μανθάνω (manthánō).[3][4]

The θ is probably a present suffix, as in πύθω (púthō) beside πύον (púon); a form without it may survive in the Hesychian gloss λῆτο (lêto, “he forgot”).[3][4] On that analysis the verb can be compared with Latin lateō (“to lie hidden”), formed differently.[4] Chantraine considers the other comparisons proposed groundless.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is forgetfulness: a sleeper is warned not to let forgetting take hold of him.[5][2][6] Hesiod's Theogony makes Lethe a goddess.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In lyric and classical Greek it is forgetting or ceasing to care, often with a genitive of what is forgotten: Sophocles speaks of forgetting one's troubles, and Herodotus has “to make forgetfulness” of something for forgetting it.[2][5] Thucydides uses it of loss of memory as a symptom of disease, and Pindar and Sophocles of the oblivion that buries a name.[2] Aristophanes and Plato make Lethe a place in the underworld, the plain of forgetting.[2]

Beekes considers that ἀληθής (alēthḗs, “true”) may contain this noun, or its relatives, with the privative prefix.[3] The word continued in Byzantine Greek, and Modern Greek λήθη (líthi) is a learned word;[7][8] Babiniotis glosses it with λησμονιά (lismoniá).[6]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of forgetfulness that might overcome Agamemnon.[5][2][9]
  • before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony names Lethe as a goddess.[5][2][10]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the Doric form λάθα.[9][2][10]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles use it with a genitive for forgetting something, and Thucydides of loss of memory in disease.[2][5][10]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato name the plain of Lethe in the underworld.[2][10]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word.[8][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Forgetfulness, forgetting; ceasing to care about something.[2][5]
  2. Loss of memory, as a disorder.[2]
  3. Oblivion, the state of being forgotten.[2]
  4. (personified) Lethe, the goddess of forgetting.[2][5]
  5. (mythology) Lethe, a plain in the underworld.[2]
  • λανθάνω (lanthánō)
  • λήθω (lḗthō)
  • ἀληθής (alēthḗs)
  • λάθρα (láthra)
  • Latin lateō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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 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 d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge