Etymologically
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λείχω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /lěː.kʰɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈli.xo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈli.xo/[1]

Forms

λείχω (leíkhō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *léikʰō,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”).[2][3] All the Greek forms are built on the thematic present λείχω; an older zero grade appears in the nouns λιχανός (likhanós, “forefinger”) and λίχνος (líkhnos, “greedy”) and in λιχμάομαι (likhmáomai, “to flicker the tongue”).[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit लेढि (leḍhi), which keeps an athematic present with ablaut, Old Armenian լիզեմ (lizem), Latin lingō, with a nasal, Lithuanian liežiù, Old Irish ligim and Old English liccian, the source of English lick.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus uses it, of licking up, in the Agamemnon (828) and the Eumenides (106).[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lick or lick up, of people and of animals, with liquids, honey, cakes or dust as the object.[6][5] Aristotle uses it of animals licking salt, and Theophrastus records an ox licking its hoof as a weather sign.[5] In Aristophanes' Knights someone “licks up” goods sold off by the state.[5] The simple verb is not common in Attic, which preferred compounds with ἀνα-, ἀπο-, δια- and περι-.[7] The Septuagint has the future λείξω, and uses the verb of dogs.[5][8]

Medieval Greek turned it into Modern Greek γλείφω (glífo), the Modern Greek verb: the /l/ became /ɣl/ after the pronoun (τον λείχω), and the /x/ became /f/, perhaps under αλείφω (alífo, “to anoint”).[9]

Timeline

  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for licking up.[5][4][10]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for licking up a liquid.[5][6][10]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of animals licking salt.[5][10]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek γλείφω (glífo).[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lick, lick up.[5][6]
  • λιχανός (likhanós)
  • λίχνος (líkhnos)
  • λιχμάομαι (likhmáomai)
  • Latin lingō
  • English lick

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ 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. ^ 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge