προβάλλω

Forms

προβᾰ́λλω (probállō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before, forward”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[1][2][3] The nouns προβολή (probolḗ) and πρόβλημα (próblēma) are made from other ablaut grades of the stem of the verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only aorist forms, without augment.^[4] In the Iliad the middle is used of sprinkling the barley grains before a sacrifice and of laying foundations in front of a burial mound, and once of surpassing someone in thought; the active means to throw forward, as when the south wind tosses a raft to the north wind in the Odyssey.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek the verb took many figurative senses of “putting forward”: putting forward an argument or plea (Sophocles, Thucydides), proposing someone for office (Herodotus, Plato, Demosthenes), and propounding a question, task or riddle (Aristophanes, Plato), from which comes πρόβλημα (próblēma) “problem”.^[4] It also meant to expose or give up, as in Herodotus' phrase for people who give themselves up for lost.^[4][2] In the middle it was used of holding a shield before oneself and of levelling weapons, and in Attic law of accusing someone before the Assembly by the procedure called προβολή (probolḗ).^[4][1]

Papyri and inscriptions use it constantly for presenting or nominating someone, often for a public service.^[5] In the Septuagint Samson propounds a riddle with it, and in the New Testament the Jews of Ephesus push Alexander forward, while Luke uses it of trees putting out their leaves.^[5][6] Coptic borrowed the verb.^[7]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for drawing up troops, putting forward an argument or excuse, and presenting a question for examination.^[8] In Modern Greek προβάλλω (proválo) means to appear or come into view and to stretch something forward; its sense of projecting an image on a screen is a learned semantic loan from French projeter and English project.^[9][2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the middle of sprinkling barley grains before a sacrifice.^[3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the middle for setting oneself a task.^[4][10]
• 7th century BC – Tyrtaeus uses the middle of holding a shield before oneself.^[4][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for proposing someone for office and for giving oneself up for lost.^[4][10]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Thucydides use it for putting forward an argument or plea.^[4][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato use it for propounding a question or riddle.^[4][10]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus uses it of being nominated, against one's will, for a public service.^[5]
• AD 325 – A dated Coptic manuscript has it as a loanword.^[7]
• Modern Greek – προβάλλω (proválo) means to appear and, by a loan from French and English, to project an image.^[9][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw or lay before; to throw (food) to animals or spectators.^[4][3]
2. To put forward; to put forward as an argument or plea.^[4][2]
3. To propose a question, task, problem or riddle.^[4][5]
4. To expose or give up; to hazard (one's life).^[4]
5. To put forth beyond; to send forth, emit; to put out leaves or fruit.^[4][6][5]
6. (middle) To throw before oneself (barley grains at a sacrifice); to set before oneself, propose to oneself.^[4][3]
7. (middle) To put forward or nominate for election or office.^[4][5]
8. (middle) To surpass, excel (in Homer, with the genitive).^[4][3]
9. (middle) To hold before oneself as a protection; to level arms.^[4]
10. (Attic law, middle) To accuse someone before the Assembly by προβολή (probolḗ).^[1][4]

Word family

• πρόβλημα (próblēma)
• προβολή (probolḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge