μαραίνω

Forms

μᾰραίνω (maraínō) ^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] Frisk compared the formation of κηραίνω (kēraínō, “to damage”) and of ἰαίνω (iaínō, “to refresh”), which probably had an old nasal present, and Beekes thinks that this verb too may continue one.^[2]

Chantraine relates the root to Latin morior (“to die”), and Meier-Brügger derives the verb from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to die”), through *mr̥n̥-ye-, with the original sense “to die out, let waste away”.^[2][1] Beekes objects that two vocalic resonants in a row are hardly possible.^[2][1] Others start from *merh₂- (“to crush”), the root perhaps also of μάρναμαι (márnamai, “to fight”).^[1][3] Babiniotis follows the derivation from the root for “to die”, which he also finds in βροτός (brotós, “mortal”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used in the passive of a fire or a pyre dying down; the Homeric Hymn to Hermes uses the active for putting out embers.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle distinguishes this verb, of a fire that goes out by itself, from σβέννυμι (sbénnumi), of one that is put out.^[5] From fire it passed to anything that wastes away: in Aeschylus a sickness wastes a person, in Sophocles a man's eyes are “quenched” by blinding, in Herodotus rivers dry up, in Plato injustice withers the soul.^[6][5] Theocritus, Moschus and Bion use it of roses and flowers that wither, and Plutarch of a wind that drops.^[6]

The Letter of James compares the rich man to a flower that withers in the heat, and the verb is used in the passive of the fading of plants, of the spirit and of a name.^[7][8][9] The Hellenistic noun μαρασμός (marasmós) comes from it.^[4] It survives as Modern Greek μαραίνω (maraíno), used of plants that wither and figuratively of people.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the passive of a fire dying down.^[5][6]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a sickness wasting a person.^[5][6][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the passive of rivers drying up, and Sophocles uses it of putting out a man's sight.^[6][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle sets it against σβέννυσθαι (sbénnusthai) for a fire that dies of itself.^[5][12]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of time withering a rose.^[6][12]
• 1st century AD – The Letter of James uses it of the rich man fading like a flower.^[7][8]
• Modern Greek – It continues as the verb for “to wither”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To quench, put out a fire; figuratively, to put out the sight; passive, of a fire, to die down, go out.^[6][5]
2. (passive) Of a wind, to drop.^[6]
3. (passive) Of rivers, to dry up.^[6]
4. To make lose freshness, wither; passive, of flowers and plants, to wither, fade.^[6][8]
5. To make waste away, weaken; of sickness, time or wickedness acting on a person, the body or the soul.^[6][5]

Word family

• ἀμάραντος (amárantos)
• ἐκμαραίνω (ekmaraínō)
• καταμαραίνω (katamaraínō)
• μάρανσις (máransis)
• προμαραίνω (promaraínō)
• μαρασμός (marasmós)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge