πέτομαι

Forms

πέτομαι (pétomai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂eti (“to fly”), from the root *peth₂- according to the LIV and Wiktionary.^[1][2] The root aorist πτάσθαι (ptásthai), with πτῆναι (ptênai), seems to need a root with a laryngeal, while most cognates can be explained from *pet-;^[3] Hackstein argued, Beekes reports, that Greek too had the root without a laryngeal.^[3] The present πέταμαι (pétamai) is secondary, made after the aorist, and the late ἵπταμαι (híptamai) was modelled on ἵσταμαι (hístamai).^[3][4]

Cognates are Sanskrit पतति (pátati, “to fly, fall”), Latin petō (“to make for, seek”), Middle Welsh ehedec (“to fly”), Hittite pattai- (“to run, fly”) and the Old English word feþer (“feather”).^[3][1][4] πτερόν (pterón) and πτέρυξ (ptérux) “wing” and the iterative ποτάομαι (potáomai) are from the same root.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer birds and bees fly, and so do arrows, spears and the soul leaving the body; men, horses and chariots “fly” over the plain.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Sophocles young children are too weak “to fly far”, like fledglings; in Aristophanes πέτου “fly!” means “hurry!”.^[5][7] Euripides uses it of love taking wing in pursuit, and Pindar of a people's fame flying far and wide.^[7] The only present in Homer and Attic prose is πέτομαι;^[5] Lucian condemned the late ἵπταμαι and called πέταμαι archaic.^[5]

In the Septuagint animals fly, and arrows and sickles move through the air.^[8] Modern Greek πετώ (petó) comes from Hellenistic πετῶ, remade on the future πετήσομαι.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of birds, bees, missiles, the soul and fast horses.^[5][6]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses the present πέταμαι.^[5][11]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of children likened to fledglings.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the imperative for “hurry!”.^[5][11]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian condemns ἵπταμαι.^[5][4][11]
• Hellenistic Greek – A contracted πετῶ appears, the source of Modern Greek πετώ (petó).^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fly, of birds, insects, gods and their horses; of a soul leaving the body.^[5][7]
2. Of missiles, lightning, snow: to fly, speed through the air; of oars or weapons, to spring from the hand.^[7][5]
3. Of persons, horses and chariots: to dart, rush, hurry.^[5][7]
4. (figurative) Of love, to take wing; of fame, to fly abroad.^[7]

Word family

• ἀναπέτομαι (anapétomai)
• ἀποπέτομαι (apopétomai)
• διαπέτομαι (diapétomai)
• εἰσπέτομαι (eispétomai)
• ἐκπέτομαι (ekpétomai)
• ἐπιπέτομαι (epipétomai)
• καταπέτομαι (katapétomai)
• παραπέτομαι (parapétomai)
• περιπέτομαι (peripétomai)
• προσπέτομαι (prospétomai)
• ὑπερπέτομαι (huperpétomai)
• ὑψιπέτης (hupsipétēs)
• ὠκυπέτης (ōkupétēs)
• ἀμφιπέτομαι (amphipétomai)

Related words

• πετάννυμι (petánnūmi)
• πετεινός (peteinós)
• πίπτω (pī́ptō)
• ποτάομαι (potáomai)
• πτερόν (pterón)
• πτέρυξ (ptérux)
• πτηνός (ptēnós)
• πτήσιμος (ptḗsimos)
• πτῆσις (ptêsis)
• πτητικός (ptētikós)
• Latin petō
• English feather

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge