πίνω

Forms

πῑ́νω (pī́nō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (“to drink”).^[2][1][3] The nasal present has no counterpart in the other Indo-European languages and was made within Greek, probably as *ph₃i-n- from a secondary root *ph₃i-, which also gave the aorist ἔπισα (épisa, “I gave to drink”) and πιπίσκω (pipískō).^[2] The primary root survives in πώνω (pṓnō), the imperative πῶθι (pôthi) and nouns such as πῶμα (pôma, “drink”) and πότος (pótos, “drinking bout”).^[2][4] The old reduplicated present of Sanskrit पिबति (píbati) and Latin bibō is absent from Greek.^[2][1]

Albanian pi is also cognate.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is common from Homer on: the Odyssey pairs eating and drinking (2.305), and the Iliad speaks of flocks going to drink after pasture.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Greek derived from its stems πόσις (pósis, “drink”), ποτήριον (potḗrion, “cup”) and πότης (pótēs, “drinker”).^[4] Herodotus says that the earth drinks up the rain, and Aeschylus that the dust drinks blood.^[5] The Septuagint and the New Testament use it often.^[6][7]

Medieval Greek had the forms πίννω and the imperative πία, which survive in dialects, and the verb continues as Modern Greek πίνω (píno);^[8][9] its sense “to smoke” follows Turkish içmek.^[9] IE-CoR lists Cypriot and Italiot πίννω (pínno).^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey and the Iliad use it for drinking.^[5][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus says the earth drinks up rain.^[5][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it more than thirty times.^[10][7]
• Medieval Greek – The form πίννω appears.^[8]
• Modern Greek – πίνω means to drink, and also to smoke.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drink; absolutely, to drink, especially wine.^[5][11]
2. To carouse; to celebrate something with drinking.^[5]
3. (figurative) To drink up, absorb, of the earth taking in rain or blood.^[5]

Word family

• ἄποτος (ápotos)
• δύσποτος (dúspotos)
• εὔποτος (eúpotos)
• ἡδύποτος (hēdúpotos)
• φιλοπότης (philopótēs)
• ἀναπίνω (anapínō)
• ἀποπίνω (apopínō)
• διαπίνω (diapínō)
• ἐκπίνω (ekpī́nō)
• ἐμπίνω (empínō)
• ἐπιπίνω (epipínō)

Related words

• πιπίσκω (pipískō)
• πιστικός (pistikós)
• ποτέος (potéos)
• πότημα (pótēma)
• ποτήρ (potḗr)
• ποτήριον (potḗrion)
• πότης (pótēs)
• ποτής (potḗs)
• ποτικός (potikós)
• πότιμος (pótimos)
• Latin bibō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
12. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge