ποιέω

Forms

ποιέω (poiéō) ^[1] Attic ποέω (poéō), guaranteed by the metre in tragedy and comedy;^[2] Aeolic πόημι (póēmi).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoiwéyō,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pile up, gather”).^[1][4][5] An older /w/ is written in Argive, Boeotian and Elean forms and in Doric ποιϝέω (poiwéō).^[5][6][2] The verb is usually connected with Sanskrit चिनोति (cinóti, “to pile up, arrange”) and Proto-Slavic *činiti (“to do, perform”).^[5][1]

How it was formed is unclear.^[5][6] It is often taken as a denominative of a noun *ποιϝός (*poiwós), but such a noun occurs only as the second member of compounds such as λογοποιός (logopoiós), from the 5th century BC on.^[5][6] Frisk and Chantraine considered instead a root abstracted from a nasal present like the Sanskrit one, a view that the LIV rejects.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to make or build something material, such as a house or a tomb.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its uses fall into two groups, making and doing.^[2] Hesiod uses it of the gods creating the races of men, and Plato calls the creator “the one who makes”.^[2][3] After Homer it is the word for poets composing an epic or a drama, from Herodotus on, which gave ποιητής (poiētḗs, “poet”), ποίημα (poíēma, “poem”) and ποίησις (poíēsis, “poetry”).^[2][3] It also means to bring about a result, to cause, and in the middle to reckon or consider.^[3][5] In mathematics Euclid uses it of a number produced by multiplication.^[2]

In the New Testament it is the common verb for both doing and making.^[7] Modern Greek ποιώ (poió) is a learned form of it.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for making houses, tombs and works of art.^[2][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of the gods creating the races of men.^[2][3][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of poets composing.^[3][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato calls the creator “the one who makes”.^[2][3][9]
• 3rd century BC – Euclid uses it of a product in multiplication.^[2][9]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for doing and making.^[7]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek ποιώ (poió) is a learned form of it.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make, build or construct a material thing; in the middle, to make or have made for oneself.^[2][3]
2. To create, bring into existence.^[2][3]
3. Of poets, to compose; to put into verse; to portray a character.^[2][3]
4. To produce rain or crops.^[2][3]
5. To bring about, cause; with an infinitive, to bring it about that someone does something.^[3]
6. To put a person or thing in a certain state, to make someone something.^[3]
7. (middle) To reckon, consider someone to be something.^[3][5]
8. To do, perform, act.^[2][3][7]

Word family

• ἀγαθοποιέω (agathopoiéō)
• ἀντιποιέω (antipoiéō)
• ἐμποιέω (empoiéō)
• νεωτεροποιός (neōteropoiós)
• περιποιέω (peripoiéō)
• ποίημα (poíēma)
• ποιηρός (poiērós)
• ποίησις (poíēsis)
• ποιητέος (poiētéos)
• ποιητής (poiētḗs)
• ποιητικός (poiētikós)
• ποιητός (poiētós)
• προσποιέω (prospoiéō)
• ἀγαθοποιός (agathopoiós)

References

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