πράσσω

Forms

πρᾱ́σσω (prā́ssō) ^[1] Attic πράττω (prā́ttō), epic and Ionic πρήσσω (prḗssō), Cretan πράδδω (práddō).^[2][3][4] The old intransitive perfect is πέπρᾱγα, Ionic πέπρηγα; the transitive perfect πέπρᾱχα is later.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *prā́ťťō,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₂-k-yé-ti, a form enlarged with *-k- from *per- (“to go over, cross”).^[1] Frisk and Chantraine trace all its forms to a stem enlarged with -k- from the zero grade seen in πιπράσκω (pipráskō) and πέρνημι (pérnēmi), and so to the family of πείρω (peírō) and πέρα (péra).^[5][4] The Homeric sense “to pass through, cross” supports this.^[4] The final consonant probably expresses reaching the goal, as in πλήσσω (plḗssō) beside πληγή (plēgḗ).^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the first book of the Iliad on, in the Ionic form.^[6] Homeric epic uses it for travelling through or across, as in “swiftly making their way”, and for accomplishing a task.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

From “to go all the way through” it came to mean “to bring to an end, accomplish, do”, and throughout ancient Greek it implies effort towards a result.^[4][5] Used intransitively with adverbs such as εὖ “well” or κακῶς “badly”, it means “to fare”, especially in the old perfect πέπρᾱγα.^[4][3] In Athens it was used of political activity, of minding one's own business, of negotiating and intriguing, and of exacting money, debts and taxes.^[3][4]

The Attic form πράττω (prā́ttō) first appears in inscriptions, Aristophanes and Xenophon.^[2] In the New Testament it means to do or commit, to exact taxes (Luke), and to fare.^[7][8] Medieval vernacular Greek used both πράσσω and πράττω, for doing and for succeeding.^[9] Modern Greek has πράττω (prátto) as a learned word for “to act, do”, while πράσσω survives in some dialects.^[10][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for crossing and for accomplishing.^[3][4][6]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it intransitively, for faring well or badly.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus has the transitive perfect πέπρηχα, and Thucydides uses the verb for negotiating.^[2][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Xenophon write the Attic form πράττω.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for doing, for collecting taxes and for faring.^[7][8]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular texts have πράττω (prátto) and πράσσω (prásso).^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned πράττω (prátto) means “to act”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (epic) To pass over, cross (the sea); to make (one's way).^[3][2]
2. To do, perform, carry out (a task or action).^[3][2][7]
3. To bring about, achieve; intransitively, to succeed.^[3]
4. (intransitive) To act, be active, often opposed to speaking.^[3]
5. (intransitive) To fare well or badly, with an adverb.^[3][7]
6. To be politically active; to be busy with, mind (one's own affairs); with “many things”, to meddle.^[3][7]
7. To negotiate or transact (a matter); to intrigue, betray (a city).^[3]
8. To exact (a debt, tribute or tax); in the middle, to exact for oneself.^[3][2][7]

Word family

• πρᾶξις (prâxis)
• πρᾶγμα (prâgma)
• πρακτικός (praktikós)
• πράκτωρ (práktōr)
• ἄπρακτος (áprāktos)
• εὐπραγία (eupragía)
• ἀπραγμοσύνη (apragmosúnē)
• ἰδιοπραγέω (idiopragéō)

Related words

• πέρνημι (pérnēmi)
• πείρω (peírō)
• πέρα (péra)
• πιπράσκω (pipráskō)

Usage notes

Chantraine, after Snell, contrasts πράσσω, which implies effort towards completion and the agent's own involvement, with ποιέω (poiéō) “to make”, and Abbott-Smith compares the pair to Latin agō and faciō.^[4][7] The Atticist lexicographers Moeris and Phrynichus held the perfect πέπρᾱγα to be Attic and πέπρᾱχα Hellenistic, but LSJ shows both in Attic writers.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ a b c 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