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μέλω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word μέλω

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad More words from the 8th century BC

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /mé.lɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈme.lo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈme.lo/[1]

Forms

μέλω (mélō) [1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3] Beside the full-grade present, the old perfect has a lengthened grade and the epic middle perfect a zero grade, and a stem in ⟨η⟩, first in the future, later spread through the whole verb.[2][4]

Most dictionaries connect it with μέλλω (méllō, “to be about to, hesitate”), but Beekes finds the link semantically unclear and Chantraine rejects it.[2][3] Frisk records other comparisons, with μάλα (mála, “very”) and Latin melior (“better”), without adopting any, and Babiniotis rejects them too.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.[6][7] In the Iliad a speaker promises “these things will be my concern” (ἐμοὶ δέ κε ταῦτα μελήσεται), and in the Odyssey a speaker says that for his wiles he is in all men's thoughts.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant “to be an object of care or thought” to someone, with the person in the dative; poets also used it of persons, but Attic prose did not.[6][3] The third person soon became impersonal: μέλει μοι with the genitive is “I care about”, and with a negation, as often in comedy, “I don't care”.[6][8] The middle and the perfect took the active sense “to care for, take an interest in”, mostly in poetry and in Hippocrates.[6][3]

The same root gave μέλημα (mélēma, “care, object of care, darling”), μελέτη (melétē, “care, practice”) and the prefixed verbs ἐπιμελέομαι (epimeléomai) and μεταμέλομαι (metamélomai).[3][4] Modern Greek keeps only the impersonal Modern Greek μέλει (méli), as in “it doesn't concern me”.[9][5]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad has “these things will be my concern”.[6][8]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis tells his addressee that he will be in men's thoughts with an undying name.[6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the impersonal μέλει with the genitive of the thing cared for.[6][3]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes has οὐδέν μοι μέλει, “I don't care at all”.[6]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses the neuter participle μέλον, “since it is a care to you”.[6][8]
  • Modern Greek – The impersonal μέλει (méli) survives.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be an object of care or thought to someone; of persons, to be in people's minds (poetic).[6][8]
  2. (impersonal, μέλει) It is a concern to someone (dative) about something (genitive) or to do something; with a negation, someone does not care.[6][8]
  3. (of persons and gods) To be concerned about someone or something.[8]
  4. (middle and perfect) To attend to, care for, take an interest in.[6][3]

Word family

  • ἐπιμελέομαι (epimeléomai)
  • μελεδαίνω (meledaínō)
  • μεταμέλεια (metaméleia)
  • μεταμέλομαι (metamélomai)
  • μέλημα (mélēma)
  • μελέτη (melétē)
  • ἀμελής (amelḗs)

Usage notes

Hesychius and Photius gloss Homer's μέλω as “I am cared for”.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g 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. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
  11. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
Cite this entry

“Μέλω.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BB%CF%89. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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