πέσσω

Forms

πέσσω (péssō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pékʷ-ye-, a present with the suffix *-ye- from *pekʷ- (“to cook, ripen”), and it corresponds to Sanskrit पच्यते (pácyate, “ripens”).^[2][3][1] The other languages have a thematic root present: Sanskrit पचति (pácati), Old Church Slavonic пекѫ (pekǫ), Lithuanian kepù (with the consonants reversed) and Albanian pjek (“to cook, bake”); in Italic and Celtic the first consonant was assimilated to the second, giving Latin coquō and Welsh pobi.^[2][3] The aorist ⟨ἔπεψα⟩ corresponds to the Latin perfect ⟨coxī⟩.^[3]

The Attic form is πέττω (péttō).^[4] The later present πέπτω (péptō) was formed from the aorist, after verbs such as βλάπτω (bláptō) and κόπτω (kóptō).^[1][4] Nouns of the same root are πέμμα (pémma, “cake”), from *pékʷ-mn̥, and ἀρτοκόπος (artokópos, “baker”), with the consonants reversed.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it in two senses.^[5][4] In the Odyssey the west wind ripens the fruit (7.119). In the Iliad it is figurative, as if of digesting something: to nurse one's anger (4.513), to brood over one's troubles (24.617), to hug a wound (8.513), to enjoy one's privileges (2.237).^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

From the 5th century BC the usual sense is to bake bread or cakes: Herodotus has the middle, and Aristophanes, Plato and Xenophon the active.^[6][4] It is also to cook or digest food, and Aristotle uses it of the sun ripening the moist air and figuratively of assuaging anger.^[4][6] The derivatives include πέψις (pépsis, “digestion”) and the adjectives in -πεπτος, such as ἄπεπτος (ápeptos, “undigested”).^[4]

Saalfeld lists Latin popina (“cookshop”) among the Latin words that come from it.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it figuratively, of nursing one's anger; the Odyssey of the west wind ripening fruit.^[5][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the middle for baking.^[6][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato has the aorist ἔπεψα of baking bread (Republic 372b).^[4][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle has the later present πέπτω.^[4][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ripen fruit; to bring to maturity.^[4][6]
2. To cook by dry heat, to bake bread or cakes.^[6][4]
3. To digest food.^[6][4]
4. (figurative) To nurse, keep warm one's anger; to brood over troubles; to enjoy privileges.^[6][5]
5. (figurative) To digest, assuage one's anger.^[6]

Word family

• ἡμίπεπτος (hēmípeptos)
• περιπέσσω (peripéssō)
• ἀναπέσσω (anapéssō)
• ἐκπέσσω (ekpéssō)
• ἐπιπέσσω (epipéssō)
• πέψις (pépsis)
• προπέσσω (propéssō)
• συμπέσσω (sumpéssō)
• ὑπερπέσσω (huperpéssō)

Related words

• ἄπεπτος (ápeptos)
• δύσπεπτος (dúspeptos)
• πέμμα (pémma)
• πεπαίνω (pepaínō)
• πεπασμός (pepasmós)
• πέπειρος (pépeiros)
• πεπτός (peptós)
• πέπτρια (péptria)
• Latin coquō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge