πελεμίζω

Forms

πελεμίζω (pelemízō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb in -ίζω (-ízō), like ἐλελίζω (elelízō) and στυφελίζω (stuphelízō), which have similar meanings, from an unattested noun, something like *πέλεμα (*pélema).^[2][3][4] That noun may have cognates in Germanic, in Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌼𐌰 (usfilma, “terrified”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌼𐌴𐌹 (usfilmei, “terror”) and Old Norse felmsfullr (“full of fright”), which point to Proto-Germanic *felma- (“fright”).^[2][3][4] If -μ- is a suffix, the group may belong with πάλλω (pállō, “to shake, brandish”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to drive”).^[2][3][5][1] πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”) may also belong here, a link Chantraine finds plausible though others dispute it.^[4][2]

Beekes also reports Furnée's view that the stem πελεμ- (pelem-) is clearly not Greek, its suffix -εμ- being Pre-Greek.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to shake or make quiver a wood, a spear or a bow, to force an enemy from his position, and in the passive to reel or quake.^[6][7][5]

Semantic evolution

It is an epic word: almost all its occurrences are in Homer, with a few in Hesiod, Empedocles and Pindar and later epic poets.^[8][7][5] Hesiod's Theogony has the earth quaking under Zeus' thunder, Empedocles has limbs trembling, and Pindar warriors sent reeling under the spear.^[7][5][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for shaking a wood, a spear or a bow, and in the passive for Olympus quaking and warriors reeling.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses the passive of the earth shaken by thunder.^[7][5][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the passive of warriors driven back under the spear.^[9][7][10]
• 5th century BC – Empedocles uses the passive of a god's limbs trembling.^[7][5][10]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes revives it in epic.^[8][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shake, to cause to quiver or tremble.^[7][5][6]
2. To struggle at a bow in order to bend it.^[7][6][1]
3. To drive an opponent from his post; to dislodge a shield.^[7][5][9]
4. (passive) To quake, tremble, quiver; of a warrior, to reel or stagger.^[7][6][5]

Related words

• πάλλω (pállō)
• πόλεμος (pólemos)
• πελέμαιγις (pelémaigis)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c 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
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. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge