λιλαίομαι

Forms

λῐλαίομαι (lilaíomai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a reduplicated present with the suffix *-yeti, reconstructed as *li-lh₂s-ye-ti.^[2][3][1] It has been connected with a root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂s- (“to be eager, desire”) (LIV's *las- (“to be unrestrained, greedy”)), with Sanskrit लसति (lasati, “radiates, is pleased”), Latin lascīvus (“wanton”) and Russian ласка (láska, “caress”).^[1][4][3] Beekes doubts these comparisons: the Greek nouns he would set beside it, λάσται (lástai, “whores”) (Hesychius) and λάσταυρος (lástauros), have suffixes that point to Pre-Greek;^[2] Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (lustus, “lust”) does not belong here because of its vowel.^[2] The perfect participle λελιημένος (leliēménos) is a further problem.^[3] Ancient grammarians derived it from a verb λῶ (lô, “to wish”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is to long for something or to be eager to do it, with an infinitive or a genitive; a spear “longs to taste flesh”.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

It is an Epic verb, found only in the present and imperfect, in Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius of Rhodes and Theocritus.^[6][9] In the Odyssey it is used of a goddess longing for a man to be her husband, and once of struggling towards the light of day.^[6][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for eager desire.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it.^[8]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for being eager for something.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To long, eagerly desire to do something, with an infinitive.^[6][9]
2. To long for something, with a genitive.^[6][9]
3. (figurative) Of a spear, to be eager to taste flesh.^[6][7]
4. To make one's way eagerly to a place.^[9]

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 c 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
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press