πυνθάνομαι

Forms

πῠνθάνομαι (punthánomai) ^[1] Epic and poetic present πεύθομαι (peúthomai), metrically more convenient; future πεύσομαι (peúsomai), Doric πευσοῦμαι (peusoûmai); aorist ἐπυθόμην (eputhómēn), Epic and lyric πυθόμην (puthómēn), Epic reduplicated optative πεπύθοιτο (pepúthoito); perfect πέπυσμαι (pépusmai).^[2][3][4] Cretan has an active πεύθω (peúthō), aorist πεῦσαι (peûsai) “to announce, summon to court”.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to wake up, become attentive”),^[2][6][1] with a nasal-infix present (*bʰu-né-dʰ-), perhaps like that of Lithuanian bundù (“to wake up”).^[6][2] The full-grade thematic present πεύθομαι (peúthomai) matches Sanskrit बोधति (bódhati, “watches, perceives, understands”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (anabiudan, “to order”), Old Norse bjóða (“to offer, make known”), Old English bēodan and Old Church Slavonic блюдѫ (bljudǫ, “to guard, observe”), all from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéwdʰ-e-.^[2][6][1] The aorist ἐπύθοντο (epúthonto) matches Sanskrit बुधन्त (budhánta), and the perfect πέπυσμαι (pépusmai) has a parallel in the Vedic perfect.^[2][6]

The sense “find out, ask” is a Greek innovation from “be awake, attentive”.^[2] The Germanic sense “to order, offer” goes with the Cretan active πεύθω (peúthō, “to make known”), and with causatives like Sanskrit बोधयति (bodháyati, “wakes, instructs”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, for hearing sounds and for learning of something, as well as for asking: the first passage in the GLAUx corpus is in Book 1 of the Iliad.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb covers learning by hearsay as well as by asking: Herodotus speaks of men who questioned the enemy and so “learned what they wished to learn”.^[3] It takes the genitive of the person one hears from or the thing one hears about, the accusative of what one learns, and a participle, an infinitive or an indirect question for the content; in the present and imperfect it can mean “to know (by having heard)”.^[4][8] From the same family come πύστις (pústis, “inquiry, tidings”), πευθώ (peuthṓ, “tidings”) in Aeschylus, and the late πευθήν (peuthḗn, “spy”).^[2][9]

The New Testament uses it for asking by inquiry and for learning about something.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for hearing and learning, and the poetic present πεύθομαι beside it.^[4][7][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days use it.^[7][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for learning by inquiry, and Aeschylus has the noun πευθώ.^[3][2][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for inquiring and learning.^[10]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian has the derivative πευθήν, “spy”.^[2][12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hear or overhear sounds, shouting or fighting.^[4]
2. To hear or learn of someone or something (genitive); to learn that someone is doing something (genitive with participle).^[4][3]
3. To learn something (accusative), from someone (genitive or a preposition); to learn that something is the case.^[4][1]
4. (present and imperfect) To know, as having heard or learned.^[4]
5. To inquire, ask; to ask about someone or something, or whether something is the case.^[4][10][1]

Word family

• ἀναπυνθάνομαι (anapunthánomai)
• ἀπευθής (apeuthḗs)
• ἀποπυνθάνομαι (apopunthánomai)
• ἄπυστος (ápustos)
• διαπυνθάνομαι (diapunthánomai)
• ἐκπυνθάνομαι (ekpunthánomai)
• ἔκπυστος (ékpustos)
• περίπυστος (perípustos)
• προπυνθάνομαι (propunthánomai)
• προσπυνθάνομαι (prospunthánomai)
• πύστις (pústis)
• συμπυνθάνομαι (sumpunthánomai)
• φιλοπευστέω (philopeustéō)
• ἐπιπυνθάνομαι (epipunthánomai)

Related words

• πευθήν (peuthḗn)
• πευθώ (peuthṓ)
• English bid

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b c d Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Βασικό Λεξικό της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge