μυκάομαι

Forms

μῡκᾰ́ομαι (mūkáomai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *muH- (“to bellow”).^[2] Its Homeric aorist and perfect form a pair like those of κράζω (krázō); the present was made from this pair on the model of intensive verbs such as βρυχάομαι (brukháomai), and the sigmatic aorist is a later innovation.^[2][1] Van Beek and Migliori take the verb to be a recent formation within Greek because of its suffix -άω (-áō).^[1]

It has direct counterparts in Baltic, Slavic and Germanic: Lithuanian mū̃kti (“to bellow”) and Middle High German mūhen.^[2] Latin mūgiō (“to low”) goes back to a form with *g, as does Greek μύζω (múzō).^[2][1] The word may be imitative in origin, like English moo.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used of cattle lowing or bellowing, of a warrior bellowing like a bull, of gates that groan as they open and of a shield that rings when struck.^[3][4] Homer has the present only once, a participle; elsewhere he uses the aorist and the perfect.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The verb remained almost only poetic.^[2] The tragedians use it of calves and of a raving man compared to a bull, Aristophanes of an angry man, and Plato of the mouth of a chasm that bellows to refuse entry.^[5] Theocritus extends it to a woman roaring like a lioness, to the blare of a conch and to thunder.^[5]

In Revelation it is the roar of a lion.^[6][7] The verb is most frequent in the 2nd century AD.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of cattle, gates and a shield.^[3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days has the perfect μέμυκε.^[8][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the perfect in the Suppliants.^[4][9]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of a raving man.^[5][8][9]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of a woman roaring like a lioness and of a conch.^[5][9]
• 1st century AD – Revelation uses it of a lion's roar.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of cattle, to low or bellow; of a man compared to a bull.^[4][5][3]
2. To roar, of a lion or of a woman compared to a lioness.^[5][6]
3. Of things, to make a deep sound: of gates, to grate or groan; of a shield, to ring; of a conch, to blare; of thunder, to peal.^[3][5]

Word family

• ἀμφιμυκάομαι (amphimukáomai)
• ἀντιμυκάομαι (antimukáomai)
• ἀπομυκάομαι (apomukáomai)
• ἐκμυκάομαι (ekmukáomai)
• παραμυκάομαι (paramukáomai)
• ὑπομυκάομαι (hupomukáomai)

Related words

• μυκάμων (mukámōn)
• μυκή (mukḗ)
• μυκήτωρ (mukḗtōr)
• μύκωμα (múkōma)
• μύζω (múzō)
• Latin mūgiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
8. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge