παλαίω

Forms

παλαίω (palaíō) ^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary derives it from πάλη (pálē, “wrestling”),^[1] but Frisk takes the noun to be a back-formation from the verb.^[2] The formation is unclear: if παλαίω is built like κεραίω (keraíō) and λαγαίω (lagaíō), with a present suffix, its aorist and future would be later, analogical forms.^[3][2]

Beekes, who leaves the origin open, weighs two connections.^[4] One links “wrestle” with “rock, sway” and so with πάλλω (pállō, “to shake, sway”), for which a root Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- has been proposed, but the Greek sequence pala- cannot come from that root.^[4] The other starts from πίλναμαι (pílnamai, “to approach”), from *pelh₂-, with a development from “come into close contact” to “wrestle”, but no trace of the verbal stem this needs survives.^[4] Chantraine finds the link with the verb “to shake” hard both in form and sense, though he allows one between the noun and that verb.^[3]

The grammarian Philoxenus already derived it from the same verb “to shake”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Iliad, where wrestling is set beside boxing as a contest, and in the Odyssey, of a match with Philomeleides.^[6][7] In Homer the word means to wrestle as a sport, distinguished from boxing.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod already uses it figuratively, of wrestling with ruin.^[6][8] Pindar has a wrestling match with a lion and, of Ajax's suicide, a struggle with a bloody death, and Euripides, Xenophon and Polybius use the verb for contending with calamities and losses.^[8][6] Plato speaks of those who know how to wrestle.^[6] The passive means “to be thrown”,^[6][8] and Euripides uses it in the Cyclops of the effects of wine, which must be grappled with.^[8][6][8] Late prose writers such as Achilles Tatius use it with an infinitive for “to strive”.^[6]

The verb made the technical vocabulary of Greek athletics: πάλαισμα (pálaisma, “a wrestling bout, a hold”), used for a contest of words or a trick, παλαιστής (palaistḗs, “wrestler”) and παλαίστρα (palaístrā, “wrestling school”).^[3][2] The Septuagint uses it with μετά, “with”, in the story of Jacob in Genesis, and the Shepherd of Hermas speaks of those who have wrestled with the devil.^[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept παλαίω, with a Cypriot form παλίω.^[10] Modern Greek uses παλεύω (palévo) “to wrestle, to struggle”, a medieval formation from πάλη with the suffix -εύω.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for wrestling.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it figuratively, of struggling with ruin.^[6][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of wrestling with a lion and of a struggle with death.^[8][12]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses the passive of a man thrown in a fight.^[6][8][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and Xenophon use it of wrestlers and of contending with losses.^[6][12]
• 2nd century AD – Achilles Tatius uses it with an infinitive, “to strive”.^[6][12]
• Middle Ages – Vernacular texts keep παλαίω, with a Cypriot form παλίω.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The verb for “to wrestle, struggle” is παλεύω, formed from πάλη.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wrestle.^[6][8]
2. To wrestle with someone (with the dative).^[6][8]
3. (figurative) To grapple or contend with a misfortune or loss.^[6][8]
4. To overcome; in the passive, to be thrown or beaten.^[6][8]
5. (late) To strive, with an infinitive.^[6]
6. (Septuagint, Christian) To wrestle with someone (μετά + genitive), as believers with the devil.^[9]

Word family

• πάλαισμα (pálaisma)
• παλαισμοσύνη (palaismosúnē)
• παλαιστής (palaistḗs)
• παλαίστρα (palaístrā)
• παλαιστέον (palaistéon)

Related words

• πάλη (pálē)
• παλάμη (palámē)
• ἀντίπαλος (antípalos)
• Modern Greek παλεύω (palévo)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ a b c d 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 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
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge