σπονδή

Forms

σπονδή (spondḗ) f (genitive σπονδῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek σπένδω (spéndō, “to pour a libation”), with the o-grade of the root and the suffix -η (-ē).^[1][2][3] The verb is from Proto-Indo-European *spend- (“to libate”), a word of the religious vocabulary.^[2][3]

Cognate with Hittite išpant- (“to libate”), Latin spondeō (“to pledge, promise”) and Tocharian B spänt- (“to trust”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is the plural in the Iliad (2.341 = 4.159), “unmixed libations and right hands”: an agreement ratified by pouring wine.^[4][5] Beekes takes the Homeric word in the sense “libation”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the singular it was the libation of wine poured to the gods before drinking, and with prayers and sacrifices: Hesiod bids men win the gods' favour with libations and offerings, and Herodotus notes that the Persians use none.^[5][6] Because libations were poured when two parties came to terms, the plural became the usual word for a solemn treaty or truce (Thucydides' “the treaty with the Lacedaemonians”), which Andocides distinguishes from εἰρήνη (eirḗnē), peace.^[5][2] It was also used of the sacred truce of the Panhellenic games.^[6]

The Septuagint uses it 68 times for the drink offering of the Temple cult.^[7] Its adjective σπονδεῖος (spondeîos) named the metrical foot of the chants sung at libations, the source, through Latin and French, of English spondee.^[2][8]

Modern Greek keeps σπονδή (spondí) as a learned word for the ancient rite of pouring a liquid at a sacrifice, and in the plural for a formal treaty or truce.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the plural for an agreement sealed with libations.^[4][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days uses it for the libation that wins the gods' favour.^[5][6][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus remarks that the Persians make no libations.^[5][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses the plural for the treaty with the Lacedaemonians.^[5][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Andocides distinguishes such a truce from peace.^[5][10]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of the rites of hospitality.^[5][10]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as a learned term for a libation and, in the plural, a truce.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drink-offering, libation, usually of wine poured to the gods.^[5][6]
2. (in the plural) A solemn treaty or truce, concluded with libations; in Homer, an agreement sealed by libations.^[5][4][6]
3. (in the plural) The sacred truce of the Panhellenic games.^[6]

Word family

• ἄσπονδος (áspondos)
• ἔνσπονδος (énspondos)
• σπονδεῖος (spondeîos)
• ὑπόσπονδος (hupóspondos)
• σπονδοφόρος (spondophóros)

Related words

• σπένδω (spéndō)
• Latin spondeō
• English spondee

Usage notes

In Aristophanes' Peace (433) the call before the libation is “σπονδὴ σπονδή· εὐφημεῖτε”, “a libation, a libation: keep silence”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge