πίλναμαι

Forms

πίλνᾰμαι (pílnamai) ^[1] An active πιλνάω (pilnáō) “to bring near” occurs once in Hesiod; there is no active πίλνημι.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pəlnamai,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥-né-h₂-ti (“approaches”), a present with a nasal infix from the root *pelh₂- (“to approach”).^[1][3] Frisk compares its formation with κίρνημι (kírnēmi) beside κεράννυμι (keránnumi).^[4]

Beekes and Frisk group it with πέλας (pélas, “near”), with the aorist from which πελάζω (pelázō, “to approach”) was formed, and with πλησίον (plēsíon, “near”), whose stem reflects the zero grade of the root.^[5][4] LIV compares a nasal present in Avestan, pərəne (“goes against”), and, less surely, Latin pellō (“to strike, drive”) and Old Irish ad·ella (“visits”).^[3] Frisk notes that the Greek words have no certain connection outside Greek, but finds the link with the Latin and Celtic verbs possible, with an original sense “to bump against”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is an epic verb, first found in the Iliad meaning to come into contact with something: racing chariots “touched” the ground.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

It always takes a dative, or a preposition with the dative.^[2][7] Hesiod uses it of Earth and Sky seeming to clash together in a storm, and once uses the active of the north wind bringing oaks down to the earth.^[2] Later it is found only in learned poetry such as that of Apollonius of Rhodes.^[2]

In Iliad 22.402 the ancient editor Aristarchus and some manuscripts read πίτναντο (pítnanto) instead of a form of this verb, and in a fragment of Euphorion the reverse correction is made.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of chariots skimming the ground.^[6][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of Earth and Sky meeting, and the active of a wind that brings trees down.^[2][8]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it in his epic.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To draw near, approach (with the dative).^[2][1][7]
2. To come into contact with, touch.^[6][2]
3. Of two things, to meet or clash together.^[2]

Related words

• πέλας (pélas)
• πελάζω (pelázō)
• πλησίον (plēsíon)
• ἄπλητος (áplētos)
• Latin pellō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
8. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge