οἰδέω

Forms

οἰδέω (oidéō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂oyd-éyeti, a present with o-grade of the root *h₂eyd- (“to swell”) and the suffix *-éyeti.^[1][2][3] Of the Greek presents meaning “swell”, only οἰδέω is likely to be old: οἰδάνω (oidánō) and οἰδίσκω (oidískō) are enlargements, οἰδαίνω (oidaínō) was probably formed on the model of κυμαίνω (kumaínō), and the late οἰδάω (oidáō) was made from the aorist.^[2][4][5] Some scholars take it as an iterative-intensive verb, but no primary verb beside it is attested.^[2]

The surest cognate is Old Armenian այտնում (aytnum, “to swell”), with the noun այտ (ayt, “cheek”).^[2][1] Germanic has isolated nouns such as Old High German eiz (“abscess”) and eittar (“pus”), and Latin aemidus (“swollen”) shows that the root began with the laryngeal *h₂.^[2] The Greek noun οἶδος (oîdos, “swelling”) is formally close to the Germanic nouns.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Odyssey, where Odysseus, cast ashore after the shipwreck, is swollen all over his body.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the classical language the verb is used of swollen parts of the body, of the feet and the belly in Aristophanes and Menander, of swollen embryos in the Hippocratic writings, and in Plato of the shaft of a feather swelling as it grows.^[7][9] Theocritus uses the perfect of the sinews standing out on the neck of a man at work.^[7][9]

Figurative uses appear in Herodotus, who says that affairs were “swelling”, that is, in a ferment and ready to break out;^[7][9] Plato compares the city to a swollen abscess full of hidden pus;^[7] Aristophanes uses it of poetry puffed up with bombast;^[7][9] and Plutarch of a people swollen with insolence and of a turgid orator.^[7][9] Plutarch also uses it of fruit swelling as it ripens.^[7]

From the verb come οἴδημα (oídēma, “a swelling”) and οἶδμα (oîdma, “swell of the sea”);^[4] οἴδημα, through medical Latin, is the source of English edema.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it of Odysseus' body, swollen from the sea.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of political affairs in a ferment.^[7][9][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato compares the city to a swollen abscess, and Aristophanes uses it of bombastic poetry.^[7][9][11]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses the perfect of sinews standing out on the neck.^[7][9][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of ripening fruit and of a proud and insolent people; the rare form οἰδάω appears in his works.^{[7][9][5][11]}

Meanings

Verb

1. To swell, be swollen, of parts of the body; with an accusative of the part swollen.^[7][9]
2. Of growing things: to swell as it grows, of a quill or of ripening fruit.^[7][9]
3. (perfect) Of muscles or sinews: to stand out with effort.^[9][7]
4. (figurative) Of political affairs or a city: to be in a ferment, ready to break out.^[7][9]
5. (figurative) Of a person or style: to be puffed up with pride or bombast; of an orator, to be turgid.^[9][7]

Word family

• ἀνοιδέω (anoidéō)
• ἐξοιδέω (exoidéō)
• οἰδαίνω (oidaínō)
• οἰδαλέος (oidaléos)
• οἰδάνω (oidánō)
• οἴδημα (oídēma)
• οἴδησις (oídēsis)
• οἶδμα (oîdma)
• οἶδαξ (oîdax)
• οἰδίσκω (oidískō)
• οἴδομαι (oídomai)
• οἶδος (oîdos)

Related words

• Οἰδίπους (Oidípous)
• Latin aemidus
• English edema

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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge