πείρω

Forms

πείρω (peírō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *péryō,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pér-ye-ti, a present in *-ye- of the root Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to pass through, cross”).^[1][2][3] The same root gives πόρος (póros, “passage, ford”) and πορθμός (porthmós, “ferry, strait”), in which the old sense “to carry over, ferry across” survives.^[2] Cognates are Sanskrit पिपर्ति (píparti, “brings across”), Old English faru, Latin portō (“to carry”) (a denominative verb), Old Armenian հերիւն (heriwn) and Albanian shpie.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, mostly in cooking: the heroes “spitted” meat on skewers before roasting it.^[4][5] The Iliad also uses it of a spear piercing a warrior, and the perfect participle πεπαρμένος of a staff studded with golden nails.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The simple verb is epic and poetic; prose uses it with prefixes, which become common in late prose.^[2] Homer uses it figuratively for cleaving a way through: Achilles “passing through” wars and painful waves, a ship “cleaving its path”.^[4] The perfect passive was used of a person pierced with pain, in Homer and Archilochus.^[5][4] Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for sailors crossing the sea.^[5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for spitting meat and for piercing with a spear.^[4][5]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it figuratively of passing through wars and waves.^[4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod has the perfect participle πεπαρμένη, of a nightingale caught on a hawk's claws.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus has the compound ἀναπείρω (anapeírō).^[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pierce, run through; especially to spit meat on skewers.^[4][5]
2. To pierce a person, with a spear; to spear a fish.^[5]
3. (passive) To be studded with nails; to be pierced with pain.^[4][5]
4. (figurative) To cleave a way through, pass through: of waves, wars, a path at sea.^[4]

Word family

• ἀναπείρω (anapeírō)
• διαπείρω (diapeírō)
• περιπείρω (peripeírō)
• ἀμπείρω (ampeírō)
• ἐμπείρω (empeírō)
• καταπείρω (katapeírō)
• συμπείρω (sumpeírō)

Related words

• ἀπείρων (apeírōn)
• πεῖρα (peîra)
• πεῖραρ (peîrar)
• πεῖρας (peîras)
• πειράω (peiráō)
• περ (per)
• πέρα (pérā)
• περαίνω (peraínō)
• πέραν (pérān)
• πέρας (péras)
• πόρος (póros)
• πορθμός (porthmós)
• περόνη (perónē)
• πέρνημι (pérnēmi)

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 d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge