πῆμα

Forms

πῆμᾰ (pêma) n (genitive πήμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes takes it as a primary verbal noun of a stem *pē-, as the ⟨η⟩ that the word keeps in Pindar and in Sophocles' lyrics suggests.^[2][3] It may be related within Greek to ταλαίπωρος (talaípōros, “enduring hardship”).^[2] Outside Greek, Avestan pāman-, the name of a skin disease, and Sanskrit पामन् (pāmán-, “a skin disease, itch”) could go back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₁-mn̥-.^[2] Wiktionary gives it as inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pêma, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”) with the suffix -μα (-ma), and compares Sanskrit पीयति (pī́yati, “to scold”) and Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fijan, “to hate”);^[1] Beekes notes that LIV connects the Sanskrit verb with a root *peh₁i- (“to taunt”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a poetic word, found from Homer on for misery and calamity, and for the person or thing that causes it, “a great bane to your father”.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Homer the gods “roll” misery upon men, and a bane can be a person.^[3][4] Pindar says that the immortals deal out two sorrows to mortals for every good thing, and tragedy heaps up “woes upon woes”.^[3] An oracle in Herodotus speaks of “woe laid upon woe”, which LSJ explains as iron forged upon iron on the anvil.^[3] The word stayed in poetry and was rare in prose.^[3][5]

Its derivatives πημαίνω (pēmaínō, “to harm”) and the compound ἀπήμων (apḗmōn, “unharmed”) are also Homeric.^[2] Medieval Greek still used πήμα for misfortune, and the word lives on in some dialects with other senses.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for misery and for the cause of misery.^[4][3][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony and the Works and Days.^[7][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar says the gods give two woes for each good.^[3][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus reports an oracle that speaks of “woe laid upon woe”.^[3][8]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as “harm”.^[9]
• Medieval Greek – πήμα still means a misfortune.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Misery, calamity, affliction, woe.^[3][5][4]
2. A cause of misery: a bane, plague, said of a person, god or thing.^[5][4]

Word family

• πημαίνω (pēmaínō)
• ἀπήμων (apḗmōn)
• πημονή (pēmonḗ)
• πημοσύνη (pēmosúnē)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)