μέδομαι

Forms

μέδομαι (médomai) ^[1] Only the present and imperfect are found, with the epic dual imperfect μεδέσθην, apart from one future, μεδήσομαι (Iliad 9.650).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, take care”).^[2][5][1] LIV assigns μέδομαι, the active μέδω (médō, “to rule”) and μήδομαι (mḗdomai, “to devise”) to an old present with a long and short root vowel.^[5] Beekes notes that μήδομαι may also come from a different root.^[2]

In the sense “to think of, be prepared for” it matches Latin meditor (“to reflect”) exactly; the same root gives Latin medeor (“to heal”) and Latin modus (“measure”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (mitan, “to measure”), Old Irish midithir (“judges”) and Old Armenian միտ (mit, “thought”).^[2][4][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to take thought for something and make ready for it, with the genitive: for war, for battle, for one's return home, for supper.^[6][3] Of gods it means to devise or plot evil.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

It is an epic word.^[6][7] The active μέδω and its participle μέδων (médōn) are used of rulers, and the name of the Gorgon Μέδουσα (Médousa) is the feminine participle, “the ruling one”.^[2][4] Later poets and prose writers use μέδομαι only rarely.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for thinking of war, return and food, and of gods plotting harm.^[6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Hippias Minor has the future μεδήσομαι.^[7][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses it in the Phaenomena.^[7][8]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus uses it.^[7][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of gods) To devise, plan (evil for someone).^[6][3]
2. To take thought for, prepare for, be mindful of, with the genitive (fighting, departure, food, sleep).^[6][3][1]

Related words

• μέδω (médō)
• μέδων (médōn)
• μήδομαι (mḗdomai)
• Latin meditor
• Latin medeor
• Latin modus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge