περιπατέω

Forms

περῐπᾰτέω (peripatéō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek περι- (peri-, “around”) + πατέω (patéō, “to tread”).^[1][2] Beekes finds no etymology for πατέω (patéō) unless it is a denominative of a word for “path” related to πόντος (póntos), a connection that Chantraine doubts.^[3] Chantraine takes the noun περίπατος (perípatos) “walk” as a back-formation from the verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records are in Aristophanes, in the Knights and the Wasps, where it means to walk about.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Attic it meant to walk up and down, especially under a colonnade, and Dicaearchus distinguishes this from going for a walk.^[4][2] From the habit of discussing while walking, it also meant to discourse, and the adjective περιπατητικός (peripatētikós) became the name of Aristotle's followers.^[4][2] Chantraine notes that walking was also part of medical treatment.^[2]

In the Septuagint it renders forms of Hebrew הָלַךְ (hālaḵ, “to walk, go”).^[6] Philodemus and the New Testament use it figuratively for how a person lives and behaves, as in walking “according to the tradition” in Mark.^[4][7][8]

Medieval Greek has it with many forms, such as περπατώ with the /i/ dropped.^[9] Modern Greek περπατώ (perpató) “walk” continues it through medieval περπατώ.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for walking about, and Plato for walking in a covered course.^[4][12]
• 4th century BC – Dicaearchus distinguishes walking up and down in a colonnade from taking a walk.^[4]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for walking, and in Job figuratively.^[13]
• 1st century BC – Philodemus uses it for living, conducting oneself.^[4]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it both for walking and for one's way of life.^[7][8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has the contracted form περπατώ (perpató) beside περιπατώ (peripató).^[9]
• Modern Greek – περπατώ (perpató) is the ordinary verb for walking.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To walk about, walk up and down, stroll.^[4][12]
2. To walk about while teaching; to discourse, dispute.^[4]
3. (figurative, New Testament) To live, conduct oneself, behave.^[4][12][7]

Word family

• περιπατητικός (peripatētikós)
• συμπεριπατέω (sumperipatéō)
• διαπεριπατέω (diaperipatéō)
• παραπεριπατέω (paraperipatéō)

Related words

• περίπατος (perípatos)
• πατέω (patéō)
• English peripatetic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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
3. ^ 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
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. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
7. ^ a b c 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 United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
12. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
13. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft