σείω

Forms

σείω (seíō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tséihō,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *twéyseti, from *tweys- (“to arouse, shock”).^[1][2] The initial /s/ goes back to a consonant cluster, as the epic doubled /ss/ of ἐπισσείω (episseíō) and ἐσσείοντο (esseíonto) shows, and this allows the link with Sanskrit त्वेषति (tvéṣati, “to excite; to be excited, sparkle”).^[3][4] Babiniotis describes the change as /tw/ > /ss/ > /s/.^[5] Chantraine notes Wackernagel's objection that the Sanskrit verb is almost only middle and means “to be excited, blaze, shine”.^[4] Forms without the /s/ of the root are found in Avestan 𐬚𐬬𐬀𐬫𐬀𐬵 (θvayah, “fright, danger”).^[3][1] Beekes thinks that Σείριος (Seírios, “Sirius”) may be related.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning to shake: warriors brandish their spears, a god shakes the aegis, horses shake the yoke, and in the passive a helmet quivers and the foothills of Ida quake.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it of earthquakes, which were attributed to Poseidon.^[7] Pindar and Sophocles use it figuratively of gods or men shaking a city.^[7] In Attic it also meant to blackmail, to frighten someone with false charges so as to extort hush money,^[7] and its noun σεισμός (seismós) meant both an earthquake and extortion.^[3] σεισάχθεια (seisákhtheia), the shaking off of burdens, was the name of Solon's law that cancelled debts.^[3] The rattle called σεῖστρον (seîstron) passed into Latin as sistrum.^[3]

The Septuagint uses it for shaking the earth and the heavens,^[8] a passage that the Letter to the Hebrews quotes.^[9] Medieval Greek had the forms σείζω (sízo) and σειώ (sió).^[10] The word lives on as Modern Greek σείω (sío), to shake violently, especially of the earth in an earthquake.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for brandishing spears and shaking the aegis, and the Odyssey for horses shaking the yoke.^[6][7]
• 6th century BC – Anacreon uses the form σίω (síō) for tossing the hair.^[7][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it figuratively for unsettling a city.^[7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of Poseidon shaking the earth.^[7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for blackmailing.^[7]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek σείω (sío) means to shake violently.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shake, move to and fro; to brandish a spear.^[7][12]
2. To shake the earth, cause an earthquake.^[7]
3. Figuratively, to agitate, disturb.^[7]
4. (Attic) To blackmail, extort hush money with false charges.^[7]
5. (passive) To shake, quake, quiver.^[7][6]
6. (middle) To shake something off oneself; to start, stir.^[7][6]

Word family

• ἀνασείω (anaseíō)
• διασείω (diaseíō)
• ἐκσείω (ekseíō)
• ἐνσείω (enseíō)
• ἐπισείω (episeíō)
• κατασείω (kataseíō)
• παρασείω (paraseíō)
• προσείω (proseíō)
• σεισάχθεια (seisákhtheia)
• σεισίχθων (seisíkhthōn)
• συσσείω (susseíō)
• ὑποσείω (huposeíō)

Related words

• σεῖσις (seîsis)
• σεῖσμα (seîsma)
• σεισμός (seismós)
• σειστός (seistós)
• σεῖστρον (seîstron)
• σεῖστρος (seîstros)
• σείσων (seísōn)
• Latin sistrum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press