μείρομαι

Forms

μείρομαι (meíromai) ^[1] Perfect active ἔμμορε “has a share” (Homer), later inflected as an aorist, ἔμμορες, ἔμμορον (Apollonius of Rhodes, Nicander); new perfect μεμόρηκα (Nicander).^[2][3] Middle perfect εἵμαρται, pluperfect εἵμαρτο “it is (was) fated”, participle εἱμαρμένη “fate”.^[2] Aeolic ἐμμόρμενον (Alcaeus), Doric ἔμβραται (Hesychius).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *(h)méřřomai,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *smér-i̯e-, a full-grade present with the suffix *-i̯e- of the root *smer- (“to receive a share”).^[2][5] The perfects keep the old ablaut: Aeolic-epic ἔμμορε (émmore) and Ionic εἵμαρται (heímartai) go back to *se-smor-e and *se-smr̥-toi, the same pattern as φθείρω (phtheírō), ἔφθορα (éphthora), ἔφθαρμαι (éphtharmai).^[2][6] The double /mm/ of ἄμμορος (ámmoros) “without a share” still shows the initial /sm-/.^[2][6]

Latin mereō (“to earn, deserve”) may be related if it first meant “to get one's share”, but its formation is different.^[2][6][5] Beekes rejects a link with Hittite marrii̯e/a-, which rather means “to dissolve by heating”, and Chantraine finds the comparison with mark- (“to divide a sacrificial victim”) less likely.^[2][6] Beekes and LIV keep the root apart from *(s)mer- (“to remember”), the source proposed for μέριμνα (mérimna) “care”; a link between the two is highly hypothetical.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The present is rare: its first instance is the imperative in the Iliad (9.616), in the words ἥμισυ μείρεο τιμῆς, “take half of my honour as your share”.^[3][6] Homer and Hesiod otherwise have only the perfect ἔμμορε (émmore) “has his share of” with a genitive, usually of honour (τιμῆς), with the idea that the share is a rightful one.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The middle perfect εἵμαρται (heímartai) “it has been allotted” became the usual word for what fate decrees: “it is fated that …”, with an infinitive, from Homer and Hesiod to Plato, Demosthenes, Aristotle and Plutarch, and its participle εἱμαρμένη (heimarménē) became a noun, “fate”, in Ionic and Attic.^[4][2]

Later epic poets took ἔμμορε (émmore) for an aorist and built ἔμμορες on it, and used it with an accusative;^[3] Aratus has the active sense “to divide”.^[3][2] The verb's derivatives were more productive than the verb itself: μέρος (méros) “part, share”, μόρος (móros) “fate, death” and μοῖρα (moîra) “portion, destiny”.^[2][6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad has the imperative μείρεο “take as your share” and the perfect ἔμμορε “has his share of (honour)”.^[3][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses ἔμμορε of the man who has a good neighbour.^[3][4][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses εἵμαρται “it is fated”, with a dative and an infinitive.^[4][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses the verb actively for dividing the ploughing season.^[3][8]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes treats ἔμμορε as an aorist (ἔμμορες) and gives it an accusative.^[3][2][8]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander has the new perfect μεμόρηκα.^[3][2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To receive as one's portion or due, take as one's share.^[3][4]
2. (perfect ἔμμορε (émmore)) To have one's allotted share of something, with a genitive (of honour, respect, a prize).^[4][3]
3. (later epic) To have something allotted to one, with an accusative.^[4][3]
4. To divide.^[3][2]
5. (impersonal perfect passive εἵμαρται (heímartai)) It is fated, it is decreed by fate.^[4][2]

Word family

• μέρος (méros)
• μόρος (móros)
• μοῖρα (moîra)
• μόριον (mórion)
• εἱμαρμένη (heimarménē)
• ἄμμορος (ámmoros)

Related words

• Latin mereō

Usage notes

LSJ lists a separate μείρομαι, the same as ἱμείρομαι (himeíromai) “to long for”, with a genitive, in Nicander's Theriaca and an inscription from Pergamon.^[3]

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 n o p 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 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 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
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge