μετρέω

Forms

μετρέω (metréō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”) with the verbal suffix -έω (-éō).^[1][2][3] The noun is formed with the instrument suffix -τρον (-tron) on the root Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”), which also has an athematic present in Sanskrit.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its one Homeric use, in the Odyssey, it means to measure out a distance, that is, to cross it: the heroes sailing home have “measured the great sea”.^[3][5] Hesiod uses the middle for getting good measure from a neighbour.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From the 5th century BC it is the ordinary verb for measuring land, buildings and distances: Herodotus measures Egypt in fathoms and stades, and land is also measured in parasangs.^[5][2] It was used for counting and for measuring time (Sophocles' “long times might be measured”), and figuratively for judging a thing by a standard: Demosthenes says his opponents measure happiness by their belly.^[5][2] Another use was to measure out and dole out, of grain and rations, in Aristophanes, Demosthenes and later prose.^[2][5] In mathematics, from Aristotle and Euclid, one magnitude or number “measures” another.^[5]

In the New Testament it is used of measuring the temple and the city with a reed in Revelation, and in the saying of Matthew 7:2 that the measure one gives will be the measure one gets.^[7] The verb continues in Modern Greek as μετράω (metráo) or μετρώ (metró), “to count, to measure”.^[1][8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it of crossing the sea.^[3][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the middle for getting good measure from a neighbour.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for measuring land, and Aeschylus and Sophocles use the passive.^[5][2][9]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it figuratively and of doling out grain, and Aristotle uses it in mathematics.^[5][2][9]
• 3rd century BC – Euclid defines one number measuring another.^[5][9]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for measuring the temple and in the saying about the measure one uses.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as μετράω (metráo), “to count, to measure”.^[1][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To measure a space by crossing it, to traverse (the sea).^[3][5]
2. To measure land, buildings or distances; to take measurements.^[5][2]
3. To count; to measure time.^[5]
4. (figurative) To judge or gauge something by a standard.^[5][2]
5. To measure out, dole out (grain, rations); middle, to have measured out to oneself.^[5][2]
6. (mathematics) Of a magnitude or number, to measure another, to divide it exactly.^[5]

Word family

• ἀναμετρέω (anametréō)
• διαμετρέω (diametréō)

Related words

• μέτρον (métron)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge