σπένδω

Forms

σπένδω (spéndō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *spend- (“to make a libation”), an old root present.^[2][1][3] Cognate with Hittite išpant- (“to libate”), Latin spondeō (“to pledge, promise”) and Tocharian B spänt- (“to trust”).^[2] The sigmatic aorist ἔσπεισα (éspeisa) is also old.^[3]

The noun σπονδή (spondḗ) “libation” is derived from it; in the plural it came to mean a truce or treaty, made with a libation.^[2] Its adjective σπονδεῖος (spondeîos) “of the libation” also named a metrical foot, the spondee.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

From Homer on it means to pour a drink-offering, usually to a god or the gods, and Homer also uses it with water.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its object is wine or a cup of wine, in Homer and Theognis, and in tragedy a drink-offering to the dead or the gods below.^[4] It rarely means simply “to pour”: Herodotus speaks of pouring goat's urine as a remedy.^[5]

The middle meant to pour libations together, which was done in making agreements, and so “to make a treaty, make peace”, in Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides and Xenophon.^[5] Inscriptions from Gortyn in Crete use the verb for “to promise” or “to secure”.^[2] The Septuagint uses it for drink-offerings to the Lord.^[6] In the New Testament it appears only in the passive and figuratively, of the apostle who is about to be “poured out” as an offering, his death seen as a sacrifice (Philippians 2:17, 2 Timothy 4:6).^[7] The noun survives as a learned word, Modern Greek σπονδή (spondí).^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – It is used for pouring libations.^[4][5]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it with wine.^[4][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the middle for making a treaty, and the active once simply for pouring.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for offerings to the dead.^[4][9]
• Septuagint – It is used for drink-offerings.^[6]
• Koine – The New Testament uses the passive figuratively of the apostle's coming death.^[7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch has the perfect active ἔσπεικα.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pour a libation, make a drink-offering.^[4][5]
2. To pour out (wine) as a libation.^[4]
3. (rare) To pour.^[5]
4. (middle) To make a treaty, make peace.^[5]
5. (Cretan) To promise, secure.^[2]
6. (New Testament, passive, figurative) To be poured out as an offering.^[7]

Word family

• σπονδή (spondḗ)
• σπονδεῖος (spondeîos)
• ὑπόσπονδος (hupóspondos)

Related words

• Latin spondeō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge