πένθος

Forms

πένθος (pénthos) n (genitive πένθους or πένθεος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a neuter s-stem noun with the e-grade of the root of πάσχω (páskhō, “to suffer, experience”), which shows the old ablaut in full: zero grade in the present (from ⟨*πάθ-σκ-ω⟩), in the aorist παθεῖν (patheîn) and in πάθος (páthos), e-grade in the future πείσομαι (peísomai) (from ⟨*πένθ-σ-ομαι⟩) and in this noun, o-grade in the perfect πέπονθα (pépontha).^[2][3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kʷendʰ-.^[1]

The further etymology is uncertain.^[2] The LIV supports the old comparison with Lithuanian kenčiù (“to suffer, endure”), but Beekes notes that a root *kʷendʰ- would break the rules of Indo-European root structure.^[2] Janda, after Leumann and Pedersen, connects the Greek forms with Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”), the root of πενθερός (pentherós), with a shift from “be bound” to “suffer”.^[2]

Herodian derived it from the word for passion with an added /n/, and Orion from βένθος (bénthos, “depth”), because grief for the dead is the deepest and the dead lie below.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

From the Iliad on it is grief and sorrow, often for someone, and especially the mourning for the dead.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Herodotus a city or people “makes a mourning” for the dead, a public observance, and he also uses it of a misfortune.^[3] In tragedy it is mourning and lament, and Sophocles uses it of a person who is a grief to others.^[3][5] Babiniotis notes that from the start it meant not bodily pain but the anguish over the loss of a loved one.^[7]

In the New Testament it is the sorrow set against laughter in James and the grief of Babylon's fall in Revelation.^[8] The word lived on in medieval Greek and survives as Modern Greek πένθος (pénthos) “mourning”, with πενθέω (penthéō) as Modern Greek πενθώ (penthó).^[9][10][7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for grief, and for mourning for the dead.^[3][5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for public mourning and for a misfortune.^[3][11]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of a person who is a grief to others.^[3][11]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for grief and mourning.^[8]
• Modern Greek – It survives as πένθος, “mourning”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Grief, sorrow, distress.^[3][5]
2. Mourning for the dead; a public mourning; lamentation.^[3][5][8]
3. A misfortune.^[3]
4. Of a person, a grief or misery to others.^[3]

Word family

• νηπενθής (nēpenthḗs)

Related words

• πάσχω (páskhō)
• πάθος (páthos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ a b c d e 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge