μήδομαι

Forms

μήδομαι (mḗdomai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, take care”), the root of μέδω (médō) and μέδομαι (médomai), with which it is commonly identified.^[2][3][4] Its long vowel, found in Doric as well, needs explaining.^[2] The LIV sets up an old acrodynamic root present with a long vowel, and Chantraine likewise an athematic present.^[4][3]

Beekes notes that other presents with a long root vowel go back to a full grade plus a laryngeal, so he suggests the influence of the root Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”) of μῆτις (mêtis) and μέτρον (métron).^[2] This cross must be old, since the noun μήδεα (mḗdea, “plans”) has a counterpart in Old Armenian միտք (mitkʿ, “thoughts”), though Clackson doubts that the two are a shared innovation.^[2][3]

Cognate with Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (mitan, “to measure”), Old Irish midithir (“judges”) and Latin medeor (“to heal”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it means to take thought or resolve, and, with an object, to devise or plot something, mostly evil, as when Zeus plans harm for men.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Homer often uses it with two accusatives, “to devise evil against someone”.^[5][6] Hesiod, Pindar and the lyric poets kept it; in tragedy and Aristophanes it occurs mostly in choral lyrics, and later it appears in poetry and late prose.^[5][3][6] Chantraine calls it an old verb that soon went out of use.^[3]

Its noun μήδεα “plans, counsels” gave adjectives in -μηδής and many personal names, such as Διομήδης and Γανυμήδης,^[3] and Mycenaean already has names of this kind, such as Mycenaean Greek e-ke-me-de.^[3][2] The agent noun μήστωρ (mḗstōr) “adviser” is also Homeric, and it is the second part of Κλυταιμήστρα.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of planning and plotting.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony and the Shield.^[5][7][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of planning a great deed.^[5][6][8]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use the future in choral lyrics.^[5][8]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius uses it with two accusatives.^[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To take thought, plan, resolve.^[5][6]
2. To devise, contrive, plot something, more often bad than good.^[5][6]
3. With two accusatives: to devise something evil against someone.^[5][6]
4. With an accusative and infinitive: to resolve that something should be so.^[6]

Word family

• μῆδος (mêdos)
• μήστωρ (mḗstōr)
• μηδοσύνη (mēdosúnē)

Related words

• μέδω (médō)
• μῆτις (mêtis)
• Latin medeor

References

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