Etymologically
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σπάω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /spá.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈspa.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈspa.o/[1]

Forms

σπᾰ́ω (spáō) [1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peh₂- (“to draw, set in motion violently”).[2][3] García-Ramón reconstructs this root from the Greek verb, Hittite pippa- (“to overturn”) and a Vedic verb meaning “to rise against”.[2][1] Klingenschmitt compared an Armenian verb “to pull out”, and Adams thinks Tocharian B pāss- (“to rip off the skin”) may belong here too.[2][1] The present may have been built to the aorist ἔσπασα (éspasa), after which the whole tense system grew up inside Greek; the LIV starts instead from a present *(s)ph₂-i̯é-.[2][3] σπάθη (spáthē), a broad blade, is from the same root.[2][1]

Chantraine found no demonstrable etymology, calling it chiefly a technical word, and linked it within Greek with σπατίλη (spatílē) and perhaps σφαδάζω (sphadázō).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used mostly in the middle, of drawing a sword from the scabbard or a spear from a wound, and of pulling one's hand from another's.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

From drawing a sword the verb spread to drawing a lot from a helmet in Aeschylus, to pulling on ropes and reins, and to plucking out hair and tearing prey, said of beasts in Sophocles.[5][6] Sophocles and Herodotus also use it of wrenching a limb.[5] In Euripides and comedy it means to draw in or gulp down a drink.[5] In Hippocratic medicine the passive means to be seized by convulsions, and the nouns σπασμός (spasmós) and σπάσμα (spásma), “spasm”, are formed from it.[5]

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it almost only in the middle, of drawing a sword.[8] In the Middle Ages the present Modern Greek σπάζω (spázo) was formed from the aorist stem σπασ-.[9][10] Modern Greek has both σπάζω and σπάω, which mean “to break”.[9][10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses the middle of drawing a sword or a spear.[5][7]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of drawing a lot.[5][6][11]
  • 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use the passive for being convulsed.[5][11]
  • 2nd century BC – Papyri use the middle of drawing knives.[5]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of drawing a sword.[8]
  • Middle Ages – The present σπάζω is formed from the aorist stem.[9][10]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek σπάζω (spázo) and Modern Greek σπάω (spáo) mean to break.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To draw a sword from its sheath; usually in the middle.[5][6]
  2. To draw or pull out something else: a spear, a lot, a hand.[5][6]
  3. To pull on or tug at a rope or a bit.[6][5]
  4. To pluck out hair; to tear apart, of beasts of prey.[5]
  5. To wrench or sprain a limb; in the passive, to be sprained.[5]
  6. To drag or snatch away; figuratively, to draw someone aside.[5]
  7. (medicine) In the passive, to be convulsed.[5]
  8. To draw in or gulp down a drink; to suck.[5]

Word family

  • ἀνασπάω (anaspáō)
  • ἀντισπάω (antispáō)
  • ἀποσπάω (apospáō)
  • διασπάω (diaspáō)
  • ἐκσπάω (ekspáō)
  • ἐπισπάω (epispáō)
  • κατασπάω (kataspáō)
  • μετασπάω (metaspáō)
  • παρασπάω (paraspáō)
  • περισπάω (perispáō)
  • σπάδων (spádōn)
  • σπάσμα (spásma)
  • σπασμός (spasmós)
  • συσπάω (suspáō)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge