παραβάλλω

Forms

πᾰρᾰβάλλω (parabállō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), first meaning “to put or throw beside”.^[1][2] The sense “to compare” is already ancient.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it in the Iliad with the prefix separated from the verb for throwing fodder to horses, and the middle for risking one's life in war.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek the word meant to expose or hand someone over to others, to entrust children to a person, and in the middle to stake or risk one's life, children or goods (Herodotus, Thucydides).^[3][4] Set side by side, things are compared: Herodotus already uses the passive for being compared, and Isocrates and Plato the active; in Euripides the middle means to vie with one another.^[3][2] Aristophanes uses the middle for bringing a boat alongside and the active for turning the eyes sideways, while in Herodotus and Thucydides the middle also means to deceive or betray.^[3] Intransitively it meant to come near, and as a seaman's word to cross over by ship.^[3][5] Geometers used it for applying a figure to a line, and Diophantus for dividing.^[3]

The noun παραβολή (parabolḗ), a comparison, is formed from it, and in the New Testament the two appear together in a variant reading of Mark: “with what comparison shall we compare it?”^[5] In Acts it describes the crossing to Samos, and in the Martyrdom of Polycarp throwing martyrs to the beasts.^[5] Byzantine Greek used it for feeding animals and for suggesting.^[1] Medieval vernacular texts have it for serving food or feeding, for comparing and for colliding.^[6] Modern Greek παραβάλλω (paravállo) means to compare one thing with another.^[7][2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for throwing fodder to horses and, in the middle, for risking one's life.^[3][4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar speaks of lending one's mouth to the praise of Heracles with it.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for comparing, for staking one's children and for entrusting, and its middle for betraying.^[3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the middle for bringing a boat alongside.^[3]
• 3rd century BC – Euclid uses it for applying a figure to a line.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles use it for crossing by ship to Samos.^[5]
• 3rd century AD – Diophantus uses it for dividing one quantity by another.^[3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for feeding and for comparing.^[6]
• Modern times – Modern Greek uses it for comparing.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw beside or to, especially fodder to animals; to throw in; to hold out as bait.^[3][4]
2. To cast something in someone's teeth, to reproach with; to bring up a topic.^[3][4]
3. To expose or hand over (to a mob, to beasts); passive, to be given up to something.^[3][4][5]
4. (middle) To risk or stake one's life or goods; in wagering, to deposit one's stake.^[3][4]
5. To set beside or parallel; to compare; middle, to vie with one another.^[3][4][5]
6. (middle) To bring a boat alongside.^[3]
7. To turn sideways (the eyes, an ear); to apply.^[3]
8. To deposit with someone, to entrust.^[3][4]
9. (middle) To deceive, betray.^[3]
10. (geometry) To apply a figure to a line; to divide.^[3]
11. (intransitive) To come near, approach; of seamen, to cross over.^[3][5]
12. (Byzantine) To feed (an animal); to suggest.^[1][6]

Word family

• ἀντιπαραβάλλω (antiparabállō)
• παραβολή (parabolḗ)
• προπαραβάλλω (proparabállō)

Related words

• βάλλω (bállō)
• English parable

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
6. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki