Etymologically
Log in

ποθέω

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 30 October 2026 at 00:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /po.tʰé.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /poˈθe.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /poˈθe.o/[1]

Forms

ποθέω (pothéō) [1] Aeolic ποθήω (pothḗō); aorist ἐπόθησα (epóthēsa), also ἐπόθεσα (epóthesa).[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰodʰ-éye-, an iterative of *gʷʰedʰ- (“to long for, ask”), and corresponds exactly to Old Irish guidid (“to pray”).[3][4] Within Greek it goes with the noun πόθος (póthos, “longing”), from which Wiktionary derives it, and with the aorist θέσσασθαι (théssasthai, “to pray for”), which matches the Old Irish subjunctive -gessam from *gʷʰedʰ-s-.[3][1]

Cognate with Lithuanian pa-si-gèsti (“to long for, miss”) and Old Church Slavonic жѧдати (žędati, “to desire”), from a nasal present *gʷʰendʰ-.[3] A link with Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bidjan, “to pray”) would need a development of /gʷʰ/ to /b/, which is disputed.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning “to long for, miss” someone or something absent or lost.[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Sappho, Sophocles and Plato also use it without an object, “to be full of longing”, and the passive “to be longed for” is common in tragedy, comedy and Plato.[2] In a weaker sense it means “to want, need” something (Isocrates, Plato) and, with an infinitive, “to be eager to do” (Pindar, Empedocles, tragedy).[2] Its derivatives include ποθεινός (potheinós, “longed for”) (lyric, tragedy, Attic prose).[3] The prefixed verb ἐπιποθέω (epipothéō) gave the New Testament nouns ἐπιπόθησις (epipóthēsis) and ἐπιποθία (epipothía).[3] It survives as Modern Greek ποθώ (pothó).[6]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses the iterative ποθέεσκε (pothéeske) for longing.[5][2]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it without an object, “to be full of longing”.[2][7]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it with an infinitive, “to be eager to do”.[2][7]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for needing something.[2][7]
  • Modern Greek – The verb survives as Modern Greek ποθώ (pothó).[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To long for, miss a person, a land or something lost; without object, to be full of longing.[2][8]
  2. (passive) To be longed for.[2]
  3. To feel regret that something has not been done.[2]
  4. To need, require something.[2]
  5. To desire, be eager to do something.[2]

Word family

  • ἐπιποθέω (epipothéō)
  • ποθεινός (potheinós)
  • πόθος (póthos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  8. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press