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σημαίνω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word σημαίνω

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σῆμα

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /sɛː.mǎi̯.nɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /siˈmɛ.no/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /siˈme.no/[1]

Forms

σημαίνω (sēmaínō) [1] Pamphylian σᾱμαίνω (sāmaínō).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma, “sign, mark”) + -αίνω (-aínō).[1][4][5] The noun has no good etymology: Brugmann compared a Sanskrit word for “thought”, which Beekes finds semantically unconvincing.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it means “to give orders” (Il. 1.289, with the dative), in the middle “to put a mark on” a lot (Il. 7.175), and “to point out” the turning-post of a race (Il. 23.358); in the Odyssey it means “to tell of” things one by one (Od. 12.26).[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

From “to show by a sign” the verb spread to signs of every kind.[2][3] Heraclitus said that the Delphic oracle “neither speaks nor hides, but gives a sign” (οὔτε λέγει οὔτε κρύπτει ἀλλὰ σημαίνει), and it was used of omens, of signals with fire and smoke, and of a commander or trumpeter giving the signal for attack or retreat.[2][3] In Herodotus and tragedy it also meant “to declare, explain”, and of words “to mean” in Plato and Aristotle.[3][4] The middle meant “to mark” cattle and “to seal” a document or a container.[3]

In the New Testament it means “to make known, report”, “to intimate” what is to come, and “to signify”.[5] It lived on in medieval Greek and survives as Modern Greek σημαίνω (simaíno), whose main sense is “to mean”.[8][9]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of giving orders, marking a lot and pointing out a turning-post.[7][2]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus says that the Delphic oracle “gives a sign”.[2]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of signals by fire and smoke.[2]
  • 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of the signal for attack.[2][3]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides asks what an unsound riddle “signifies”.[4]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of what words mean.[3]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for “to make known” and for hinting at what will happen.[5]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as σημαίνω (simaíno), “to mean”.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give orders, be in command (with the dative).[7][3]
  2. To show by a sign, point out, indicate.[3][2]
  3. To tell, declare, explain.[3][2]
  4. Of things, to betoken; of words, to mean, signify.[3][5]
  5. To give a signal, especially for battle.[2][3] Used impersonally, a signal is given.[2][3]
  6. (Koine) To make known, report; to intimate what is to come.[5]
  7. (middle) To mark; to mark with a seal, seal.[7][3]
  8. (late prose, intransitive) To appear, be manifest.[2]

Word family

  • ἀποσημαίνω (aposēmaínō)
  • διασημαίνω (diasēmaínō)
  • ἐκσημαίνω (eksēmaínō)
  • ἐνσημαίνω (ensēmaínō)
  • ἐπισημαίνω (episēmaínō)
  • κατασημαίνομαι (katasēmaínomai)
  • παρασημαίνομαι (parasēmaínomai)
  • προσημαίνω (prosēmaínō)
  • προσσημαίνω (prossēmaínō)
  • ὑποσημαίνω (huposēmaínō)
  • ἀντισημαίνω (antisēmaínō)
  • σημαντήρ (sēmantḗr)
  • σημαντήριον (sēmantḗrion)
  • σημαντικός (sēmantikós)
  • σημαντρίς (sēmantrís)
  • σήμαντρον (sḗmantron)
  • σημάντωρ (sēmántōr)
  • σημασία (sēmasíā)
  • σῆμα (sêma)
  • σημεῖον (sēmeîon)

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 k l m 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 o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  5. ^ a b c d e 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
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  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
Cite this entry

“Σημαίνω.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CF%83%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%BD%CF%89. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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