μιμνήσκω

Forms

μῐμνήσκω (mimnḗskō) ^[1] Aeolic μιμναίσκω (mimnaískō), recorded by grammarians.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a reduplicated present with the suffix -σκω (-skō), built on the stem of the perfect μέμνημαι (mémnēmai, “I remember”) and of μνάομαι (mnáomai).^[2][3][4] The root is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mneh₂- (“to think of, remind”),^[2][5] probably an extension of *men- (“to think”), the root of μέμονα (mémona) and Latin meminī.^[2][3] Outside Greek it is found mainly in Sanskrit, in the aorist Sanskrit अम्नासिषु (amnāsiṣu, “they mentioned”), which matches the Greek sigmatic aorist.^[2][3][1]

Beekes regards the whole paradigm built on this stem as a Greek creation, and the reduplicated present as perhaps secondary, like κικλήσκω (kiklḗskō).^[2] The LIV reconstructs a present *mn̥h₂-sḱé- behind the unreduplicated form μνήσκομαι (mnḗskomai) in Anacreon.^[5][1] The spelling with iota subscript is secondary.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the active means "to remind, put in mind": Thetis reminds Zeus of a favour, and Nestor says that Telemachus has reminded him of his sorrows.^[4][6] The middle and passive, with the perfect μέμνημαι, mean "remember, be mindful of" and "make mention of" from the Iliad on.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The active is mostly epic and occurs only once in tragedy; prose writers preferred the compounds ἀναμιμνήσκω (anamimnḗskō) and ὑπομιμνήσκω (hupomimnḗskō).^[4] In early writers the perfect μέμνημαι serves as the present "I remember", and the middle present appears only in later prose.^[4][3] Pindar uses the active for making something famous.^[4][6] In the Septuagint and the New Testament the passive means "be remembered", of sins or of alms remembered before God.^[4]

From the same stem come μνῆμα (mnêma, “memorial, tomb”), μνήμη (mnḗmē, “remembrance”) and μνεία (mneía, “mention”), and the sense "to woo" of μνάομαι grew out of "to be mindful of".^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the active for reminding and the middle for remembering and mentioning.^[4][6]
• 6th century BC – Anacreon has the unreduplicated present μνήσκεται.^[2][5][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the active for making a home famous.^[4][6][7]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses the active once in tragedy.^[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To remind, put in mind (with the genitive of the thing).^[4][6]
2. To recall to memory, make famous.^[4][6]
3. (middle and passive, perfect μέμνημαι) To remember, call to mind.^[4][6]
4. (middle) To remember to do something.^[4][6]
5. (middle) To be mindful of, think of, attend to (food, fighting, work).^[6]
6. (middle) To make mention of, tell of.^[4][6]
7. (passive, Septuagint, New Testament) To be remembered.^[4]

Word family

• ἀναμιμνήσκω (anamimnḗskō)
• ὑπομιμνήσκω (hupomimnḗskō)
• προμιμνήσκω (promimnḗskō)

Related words

• μαίνομαι (maínomai)
• μένος (ménos)
• μνάομαι (mnáomai)
• μνῆμα (mnêma)
• μνήμη (mnḗmē)
• μέμονα (mémona)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon 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 h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge