μέδω

Forms

μέδω (médō) ^[1] Only the present is attested; the middle μέδομαι (médomai) also has the future μεδήσομαι (Iliad 9.650).^[2][3] A by-form μεδέων (medéōn), feminine μεδέουσα, is found in the Iliad, the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, take care”), a root that LIV glosses as “measure, ensure compliance, take care”,^[5] and Greek continues its acrodynamic root present in μέδω and the middle μέδομαι (médomai).^[5][2] Wiktionary reconstructs the present as *méd-e-ti.^[1]

In the sense “think of, be prepared for”, the middle corresponds exactly to Latin meditor (“to reflect, meditate”), beside which Latin has medeor (“to heal”) and modus (“measure”).^[2] Other cognates are Old Irish midithir (“judges”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (mitan, “to measure”), Old English metan (“to measure”) and German messen (“to measure”).^[2][5][4] Chantraine, following Benveniste, defines the root as “to take with authority the appropriate measures”.^[4] A thought that rules and orders gave the sense “rule” in Greek and legal terms in Italic, such as Oscan meddiss (“one who pronounces the law”),^[4] the healer's measures gave the Latin verb for healing and Avestan vīmad- (“physician”),^[4] and Germanic specialised the root as “measure”.^[4]

μήδομαι (mḗdomai, “to devise”) has been explained as a lengthened grade of the same root, but Beekes allows that it may come from a different root, Proto-Indo-European *meh₁(d)-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses only the participle μέδων (médōn), as a noun, “lord, ruler”, mostly in the plural in the formula ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες, “leaders and rulers”, and once in the singular for the lord of the sea in the Odyssey.^[3][4] The middle μέδομαι, “to provide for, be mindful of”, with the genitive, is Homeric too: πολέμοιο μεδέσθω, “let him think of war” (Iliad 2.384).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod gives the feminine participle as the name of the Gorgon Μέδουσα (Médousa), “she who rules”, and the by-form μεδέων (medéōn) appears in the Iliad and the Hymn to Hermes.^[3][2][4] The root is common in names: Μέδων, Λαομέδων (Laomédōn), and the Boeotian town Μεδεών, perhaps “seat of government”.^[2][4]

The finite verb appears only in 5th-century poetry, with a genitive of the place or thing ruled.^[3][6] In Sophocles a god rules over a place: Poseidon over a headland of the Aegean, a line Aristophanes quotes in the Frogs, and Dionysus over Eleusis in the Antigone.^[3][6] Empedocles says that each of the elements has charge of its own prerogative.^[3][6] Only the present is found.^[2][4] The middle μέδομαι later takes an infinitive in the Orphic Argonautica, “to plan to sail”.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the participle μέδων (médōn) for “ruler” and the middle μέδομαι (médomai) for “to be mindful of”.^[3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names the Gorgon Medusa with the feminine participle.^[3][2][7]
• 5th century BC – Empedocles and Sophocles use the finite verb, of an element and of gods ruling over places.^[3][6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes quotes Sophocles' line on Poseidon in the Frogs.^[3][6][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of a god) To rule, hold sway over a place (with the genitive, or with a preposition).^[3][6]
2. (of an element) To have charge of a prerogative (with the genitive).^[6][3]
3. (participle μέδων, as a noun, Homeric) A lord, ruler.^[3][2]
4. (middle μέδομαι, Homeric) To provide for, be mindful of (with the genitive); later, with the infinitive, to plan.^[3][2]

Word family

• μέδων (médōn)
• μεδέων (medéōn)
• Μέδουσα (Médousa)
• Λαομέδων (Laomédōn)

Related words

• μήδομαι (mḗdomai)
• Latin meditor
• Latin medeor
• Latin modus

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 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 f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge