πέδη

Forms

πέδη (pédē) f (genitive πέδης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”), an e-grade derivative of the word for the foot.^[2][3][1] Greek otherwise keeps the e-grade only in old derivatives such as πέδον (pédon), πέδιλον (pédilon) and πέζα (péza), while the noun πούς (poús, “foot”) has the o-grade.^[2][3][1]

The same development from “foot” to “fetter” is found in Latin pedica (“shackle”) with impediō (“to hinder”), and in Old Norse fjǫturr (“fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *feturaz.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad Poseidon puts golden hobbles on the feet of his horses.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

From Solon and Theognis on it means the fetters put on people, usually in the plural, and Solon's Good Order puts fetters on the unjust.^[4][5] Herodotus tells how Xerxes had a pair of fetters thrown into the Hellespont.^[4] Aeschylus calls the robe that entangled Agamemnon fetters not made of bronze, and Philip V called Chalcis, Corinth and Demetrias the “fetters of Greece”.^[4][5] It also named an anklet (Aristophanes, Lucian), a fishing net in Euripides, and in Xenophon a way of training a horse by riding it in a figure of eight.^[4] In the New Testament the Gerasene demoniac breaks the chains and fetters put on him.^[7]

Today Modern Greek πέδη (pédi) means a brake, as in the compound τροχοπέδη (trochopédi).^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of the golden hobbles of Poseidon's horses.^[4][6]
• 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it of fetters on the unjust.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the fetters cast into the Hellespont, and Aeschylus figuratively of Agamemnon's robe.^[4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of a figure-of-eight exercise for horses.^[4]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius reports the phrase “the fetters of Greece”.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels of Mark and Luke use it of the demoniac's fetters.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek πέδη (pédi), “brake”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fetter or shackle for the legs; a hobble for horses; usually in the plural.^[4][5][7]
2. (figurative) Something that hinders or holds fast; of strongholds, the “fetters” of a country.^[4][5]
3. An anklet.^[4]
4. A fishing net.^[4]
5. A figure-of-eight course used in breaking in a horse.^[4]

Word family

• ἱστοπέδη (histopédē)
• πεδάω (pedáō)
• πεδήτης (pedḗtēs)
• πεδίσκη (pedískē)
• πέδων (pédōn)

Related words

• πούς (poús)
• πέδον (pédon)
• πεζός (pezós)
• Latin pedica

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 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
4. ^ 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
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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας