νέμω

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /né.mɔː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈne.mo/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈne.mo/^[1]

Forms

νέμω (némō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *némō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ném-e-ti (“to assign, allot; take”).^[1][2] The LIV classes it as a full-grade thematic present of *nem- (“to allocate”).^[2] Cognate with Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman, “to take”), German nehmen (“to take”) and Latvian ņemt (“to take”).^[2][1]

The whole Greek system of forms, including νομή (nomḗ, “pasture”), νόμος (nómos, “custom, law”) and νομός (nomós, “pasture”) with their /o/, is built on the present νέμω.^[3] Benveniste stressed that the verb implies a regular, lawful allotment, “to share out legally”, which links its many senses.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is to give out portions of meat and drink at a meal and to assign something as one's lot;^[4] Zeus himself “deals out happiness” (Odyssey 6.188).^[4][5] The middle is to hold, occupy and enjoy land, and to graze, of cattle and herdsmen.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek kept both lines: to distribute and dispense (portions, justice, honours), and in the middle to occupy, inhabit and enjoy land or revenues, as Thucydides says of mines and trading posts.^[6][7] Gods and rulers were said to “hold” a city or a people, and the verb came to mean to manage, govern and direct.^[6] With herdsmen it is to put animals to pasture, and Herodotus uses the middle figuratively of ulcers that spread.^[6]

Its derivatives include νομή (nomḗ) “pasture, distribution”, νομός (nomós) “pasture, residence, province” and νομάς (nomás) “roaming the pasture”, whose plural named pastoral peoples, nomads.^[8] νόμος (nómos) and νέμεσις (némesis) belong to the same family.^[1][3] In the New Testament only the middle occurs, of animals grazing.^[9] Medieval Greek used it for to distribute, to enjoy and to dwell.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for dealing out portions and for grazing.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the middle of a spreading ulcer.^[6][11]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses the middle for exploiting mines and markets.^[7][11]
• 5th century BC – Aeschylus and Pindar use it for gods who hold a land.^[6][11]
• Early Christian – The Shepherd of Hermas uses the middle for cattle grazing.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To deal out, distribute, dispense; to assign.^[5][6]
2. (middle) To hold, occupy, inhabit; to enjoy (land, revenues).^[6]
3. To manage, rule, govern; to direct.^[6]
4. To put (animals) to pasture; to graze (land).^[6]
5. (middle) Of animals, to graze, feed on; of fire, to consume.^[6]
6. (middle, figurative) Of an ulcer, to spread.^[6]

Word family

• ἀμφινέμομαι (amphinémomai)
• κληρονόμος (klēronómos)

Related words

• νέμεσις (némesis)
• Νέμεσις (Némesis)
• νέμησις (némēsis)
• νέμος (némos)
• νομεύς (nomeús)
• νομή (nomḗ)
• νομός (nomós)
• νόμος (nómos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge