σκέλλω

Forms

σκέλλω (skéllō) ^[1]

Etymology

Probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- (“to dry out, wither”).^[2][3][1] The active is rare; the usual forms are the intransitive σκέλλομαι (skéllomai) “to dry up”, the perfect ἔσκληκα (ésklēka) “to be dried up” and compound aorists such as ἀποσκλῆναι (aposklênai).^[2][4] The Homeric aorist σκήλειε (skḗleie) stands for an older s-aorist.^[2][4][3]

The family shows two stems, one in σκελετός (skeletós) and one in σκληρός (sklērós) and the perfect, which Chantraine explains as an old alternation of one root with a laryngeal.^[4][5] LIV sets up a root aorist, a nasal present and a perfect for Greek.^[3] Beekes notes that the verb looks Indo-European but has no good verbal cognates outside Greek; the nominal cognates proposed are Germanic, from *skala-, such as German schal (“stale, flat”) and English shallow.^[2][4][6] In Greek its other stems were later replaced by ξηραίνω (xēraínō) and αὐαίνω (auaínō).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Iliad has the only Homeric form, the aorist optative σκήλειε: Apollo covers Hector's body with a cloud so that the force of the sun may not parch the skin around the sinews and limbs.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Later the verb lives mainly in the passive and in compounds with κατα-, ἀπο- and ἐν-, “to dry up, wither, waste away”.^[2][8] Aeschylus has κατεσκέλλοντο in Prometheus Bound, of men wasting away; the perfect describes smoke-dried things in Choerilus and parched skin in Apollonius of Rhodes.^[8][9] Comic and later writers use ἀποσκλῆναι of people who waste away or die of consumption.^[4][2]

Its derivatives lasted longer than the verb: σκελετός (skeletós) “dried-up body, mummy” is the source of English skeleton.^[2][4][10] σκληρός (sklērós) “hard, harsh” is from the same root.^[2][4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the active aorist σκήλειε, “parch”, of the sun.^[7][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the compound κατασκέλλομαι, “to waste away”.^[8][2]
• 5th century BC – Choerilus uses the perfect participle for smoke-dried things.^[8]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses the perfect of parched skin.^[8][9]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander has the compound subjunctive ἐνισκήλῃ.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To dry up, parch.^[8][9][7]
2. (passive and intransitive perfect) To be parched, dried up, lean.^[8][9]

Word family

• σκελετός (skeletós)
• σκληρός (sklērós)
• ἀποσκλῆναι (aposklênai)

Related words

• English skeleton
• English shallow

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 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com