πέσσω
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /pés.sɔː/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈpes.so/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈpes.so/[1]
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
- To ripen fruit; to bring to maturity.[4][6]
- To cook by dry heat, to bake bread or cakes.[6][4]
- To digest food.[6][4]
- (figurative) To nurse, keep warm one's anger; to brood over troubles; to enjoy privileges.[6][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
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
- ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge