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μύω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word μύω

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Homer, Iliad

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /my̌ː.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈmy.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈmy.o/[1]

Forms

μῡ́ω (mū́ō) [1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited, from Proto-Indo-European *mewH- (“to shut”) or from *mews-: the present μύω can come from either.[2][1] With the first root, the short vowel of the aorist and the nouns such as μύστης (mústēs) would be recent; with the second root, the perfect would be the innovation.[2] Wiktionary compares Latin mūtus (“mute”).[1] Oettinger connected Hittite munnae- (“to hide”);[2] Janda's link with a Palaic verb meaning “to satiate oneself” is semantically unattractive, and Furnée considered a Pre-Greek origin.[2]

The presents μυέω (muéō, “to initiate”) and μυέομαι (muéomai) may have grown out of its non-present forms.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of eyes that close in sleep, and of wounds that have closed.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek the aorist means to shut one's eyes, often before enduring something hard: Sophocles' guards shut their eyes in the dust storm, and Plato advises bearing punishment by shutting one's eyes bravely.[4][5] The present means to keep the eyes closed, in Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle.[5] It is also said of mouths and openings, of bivalves as opposed to gaping, and of flowers.[4] Plutarch uses it figuratively: to shut one's eyes to reason.[4][5]

The derivatives took the word into the mysteries: μυέω (muéō), μύστης (mústēs) and μυστήριον (mustḗrion).[2][6] Modern Greek keeps μυώ (myó, “to initiate”) as a learned word from μυέω.[7][6]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of closing eyes and closed wounds.[3][8]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides and Sophocles use the aorist of shutting the eyes.[4][8][9]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of passages closing.[4][5][9]
  • 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it figuratively, of closing one's eyes to reasoning.[5][4][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of eyes, to close, be shut; of wounds, to close up.[4][3]
  2. Of people, to shut one's eyes, or keep them shut.[4][5]
  3. Of the mouth or other openings, to close.[4][5]
  4. (figurative) Of pain, to be lulled, abate.[5]

Word family

  • μυέω (muéō)
  • μύστης (mústēs)
  • ἐπιμύω (epimúō)
  • καμμύω (kammúō)
  • καταμύω (katamúō)
  • μύσις (músis)
  • μυστήριον (mustḗrion)
  • μύωψ (múōps)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
Cite this entry

“Μύω.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BC%CF%8D%CF%89. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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