προστίθημι

Forms

προστίθημῐ (prostíthēmi) ^[1] Doric ποτι-, aorist ποτέθηκα (Theocritus).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek προσ- (pros-, “to, towards”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”).^[1] The simple verb continues the reduplicated present Proto-Indo-European *dʰí-dʰeh₁-mi of the root *dʰeh₁- (“to put, lay down, make”).^[4] Doric has the compound with ποτί (potí) instead of the preposition used in Attic.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Odyssey, of a huge stone placed against a doorway (Od. 9.305).^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek used it for placing a thing against or on another (a ladder against a wall, offerings on a tomb), for attaching persons to a group or allying oneself, for bestowing (prerogatives on mortals in Aeschylus, a daughter as a wife in Herodotus), for imposing a task and imputing blame (Herodotus, Euripides), and above all for adding one thing to another.^[3][2] The middle meant “to win over” someone and “to side with, agree with” a person or an opinion, in Herodotus, Thucydides and Demosthenes.^[3]

In the Septuagint it renders Hebrew idioms: with an infinitive it means “to do again”, and in the passive “to be added to” one's people or fathers means “to die”.^[6] In the New Testament it means “to add”, of things and of persons added to a group.^[7] The middle and passive forms survive in learned Modern Greek.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it of a stone placed against a doorway.^[3][5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of handing over the gods' prerogatives to mortals.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for adding and, in the middle, for agreeing with an opinion.^[2][3]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it with an infinitive in the sense “to do again”, after Hebrew.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of persons added to a group.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has the middle and passive forms, which are still used in learned Modern Greek.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put or place against or on something; to apply.^[3][2]
2. To bring into close relationship; to attach; to ally oneself.^[3]
3. (middle) To win over; to side with, agree with, support.^[3][2]
4. To hand over, bestow, confer; to give a daughter in marriage.^[3][2]
5. To impose on; to attribute or impute to.^[2][3]
6. To add; to give besides.^[2][3][7]
7. (Septuagint) With an infinitive, to do again, continue.^[6] In the passive, to be gathered to one's people, die.^[6]

Word family

• πρόσθεσις (prósthesis)
• προσθήκη (prosthḗkē)

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 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
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 Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr