Etymologically
Log in

λύζω

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 20:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /lýz.dɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈly.zo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈly.zo/[1]

Forms

λύζω (lúzō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lewg- (“to swallow”), perhaps from a present *(s)lug-yé-ti.[1][2][3] The verb stands beside the noun λύγξ (lúnx, “hiccup”) as ἰύζω (iúzō) stands beside ἴυγξ (íunx), or βήσσω (bḗssō) beside βήξ (bḗx).[2][4] Beekes and Chantraine leave open whether the noun is a back-formation from the verb or the verb, from a form *λυγγ-ω (*lung-ō), was made from the noun.[2][4]

Cognates are found in Celtic and Germanic: Old Irish slucim (“to swallow”), Welsh llyncu (“to swallow”), Middle Low German slūken, Middle High German slūchen and, with a doubled consonant, slucken (“to swallow”) and the iterative sluckzen (“to sob”).[2][4] The Greek ⟨λ-⟩ therefore comes from ⟨*sl-⟩.[2][4] Some Slavic forms lack the ⟨*s-⟩, such as Polish łkać.[2][4] Beekes notes that LIV sets up two roots, Proto-Indo-European *sleuk- and *sleug-, with the same meaning.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Hippocratic writings, in the sense to have the hiccup.[5][4] In the same period Aristophanes, in the Acharnians, uses it of a man who sobs and weeps.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Beside the medical sense, the verb was used of convulsive sobbing, especially from fear or cold, as the Aristotelian Problems explain.[5][4] Later poets kept the sense “to sob”, and Galen gives it an aorist ἔλυγξα.[5][4] Compounds with ἀναλύζω (analúzō), ἐπιλύζω (epilúzō) and ὑπολύζω (hupolúzō) appear in later writers, and the action noun λυγμός (lugmós), “hiccup”, is used by the Hippocratic doctors, Aristotle and Nicander.[4]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Diseases uses it for having the hiccup.[5][7]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of sobbing.[5][6][7]
  • 4th century BC – The Aristotelian Problems says that people who are afraid or cold sob.[5][7]
  • 2nd century AD – Galen uses the aorist and other forms of the verb in his medical works.[5][8][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To have the hiccup.[5][6]
  2. To sob violently, as from fear or cold.[5][6]

Word family

  • ἀναλύζω (analúzō)
  • ἐπιλύζω (epilúzō)
  • ὑπολύζω (hupolúzō)
  • λύγδην (lúgdēn)
  • λυγκαίνω (lunkaínō)
  • λύγξ (lúnx)
  • λυγμός (lugmós)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 i j 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. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux