νεύω

Forms

νεύω (neúō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to nod”).^[1][2][3] Frisk took the kept diphthong of νεύω and νευστάζω (neustázō) as a sign of an older *neus-e/o-, comparing γεύομαι (geúomai) and εὕω (heúō);^[3] Beekes prefers a root without s, because the clear cognates Latin abnuō (“to refuse”) and adnuō (“to nod assent”) go back to *-neue/o-.^[3] Babiniotis gives *neu(s)-.^[4] νεῦμα (neûma) agrees with nūmen, but both may have been formed separately.^[3]

Wiktionary also compares nūtō (“to nod”) and Sanskrit नवते (návate);^[1] García Ramón, cited by Beekes, leaves the Sanskrit verb out as evidence.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is a quick bending of the head: warriors in close order nod so that their helmets touch, crests nod on helmets (Iliad 3.337, 13.133), and one man nods to another as a sign (9.223).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Already in Homer and the Homeric Hymns a god or a person in authority nods to grant a request, and in Pindar and Sophocles the verb means to nod assent or to promise.^[7][6] Hesiod uses it of ears of corn bending to the ground.^[6] It was also used of places sloping or facing in a direction, and of things tending towards a point (Thucydides, Plato).^[6] Figuratively it meant to decline, as fortune declines in a fragment of Euripides, and in Neoplatonic philosophy to sink lower in the scale of being (Plotinus).^[6]

In the New Testament it means to nod to someone as a signal to do something (John 13:24, Acts 24:10).^[8] Modern Greek νεύω (névo) is a learned word taken from the ancient verb.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of nodding heads and helmet crests, and of a nod as a sign.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of ears of corn bending down.^[6][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of nodding assent.^[6][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of sloping towards something.^[6][10]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of fortune declining.^[6][10]
• New Testament – It means to nod as a signal.^[8]
• Modern Greek – νεύω is a learned word.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To nod or beckon as a signal, with the head or the hand; to signal someone to do something.^[7][6][8]
2. To nod assent; to grant, promise.^[7][6]
3. To bend forward, nod, of warriors, helmet crests or ears of corn.^[5][6][7]
4. To incline, slope in a direction; to tend towards something.^[6]
5. (figurative) To decline, fall away; in Neoplatonism, to sink in the scale of being.^[6]

Word family

• ἀνανεύω (ananeúō)
• ἐκνεύω (ekneúō)
• ἐπινεύω (epineúō)
• κατανεύω (kataneúō)
• νεῦμα (neûma)
• νευστικός (neustikós)
• συννεύω (sunneúō)
• νεῦσις (neûsis)
• νευστάζω (neustázō)

Related words

• Latin nūtō
• Latin nūmen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge