Etymologically
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στέλλω

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /stél.lɔː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈstel.lo/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈstel.lo/[1]

Forms

στέλλω (stéllō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *stéľľō, a present in ⟨*-ye-⟩ from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to set up, prepare”).[1][2][3] Related forms are Old Armenian ստեղծանեմ (stełcanem, “to create”), with an unexplained c, Albanian shtjell (“to wind up, hurl”) and Old Church Slavonic постьлати (postĭlati, “to spread”).[3][2]

Some Aeolic forms begin with ⟨σπ-⟩, such as Sappho's ⟨σπόλα⟩ for στολή (stolḗ).[3][4] Bechtel thought two roots had merged, *stel- “to send” and ⟨*skʷel-⟩ “to equip”, but the evidence for the second is meagre, and Beekes connects the Aeolic words with Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“to split”) instead.[3][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad a leader marshals his companions and urges them to fight, and in the Odyssey a ship is fitted out.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to put in order and make ready: to marshal soldiers, fit out a ship or an army, dress and equip a person; in the middle, to get oneself ready.[6][5] A second group of senses is to draw in: to gather up one's clothes, to furl a sail, and figuratively to curtail one's speech or check something; doctors used it for binding the bowels.[6][1] From “make ready for a journey” it came to mean to dispatch, send, and to summon or fetch, and in the middle or passive to set out.[6][1]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament it is used only in the middle, “to keep away from, avoid”.[8][9] The prefixed ἀποστέλλω (apostéllō, “to send off”) and ἐπιστέλλω (epistéllō, “to send to”) gave ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) and ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ); the simple verb gave στόλος (stólos, “expedition, fleet”) and στολή (stolḗ, “garment”).[3][4] Byzantine στέλνω is the Modern Greek word for “to send”.[1]

Timeline

  • Homer – It is used for marshalling men and fitting out ships.[5][7]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for furling a sail and for fitting out an army.[6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Euripides use it for sending persons and ships.[6]
  • 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the middle for shortening sail and curtailing one's words.[6]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses the middle for keeping away from someone.[9]
  • Byzantine period – It becomes στέλνω “to send”.[1]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To put in order, make ready; to marshal soldiers.[6][5]
  2. To fit out, equip a ship or an army; to dress, array a person.[6][1]
  3. (middle) To get oneself ready; to set out on a journey.[6][1]
  4. To gather up clothes; to furl a sail; to curtail, check.[6][1]
  5. (medicine) To bind, make costive, or (middle) to restrict one's diet.[1]
  6. To dispatch, send.[6][1]
  7. To summon, fetch.[6][1]
  8. (middle, Septuagint and New Testament) To keep away from, avoid.[8][9]

Word family

  • ἀμφιστέλλομαι (amphistéllomai)
  • ἀναστέλλω (anastéllō)
  • ἀποστέλλω (apostéllō)
  • ἄστολος (ástolos)
  • αὐτόστολος (autóstolos)
  • διαστέλλω (diastéllō)
  • δίστολος (dístolos)
  • ἐπιστέλλω (epistéllō)
  • εὐσταλής (eustalḗs)
  • εὔστολος (eústolos)
  • ἰδιόστολος (idióstolos)
  • καταστέλλω (katastéllō)
  • κυανόστολος (kuanóstolos)
  • λινόστολος (linóstolos)
  • στάλιξ (stálix)
  • σταλίς (stalís)
  • στέλμα (stélma)
  • στήλη (stḗlē)
  • στολάς (stolás)
  • στολή (stolḗ)
  • στολίς (stolís)
  • στολμός (stolmós)
  • στόλος (stólos)
  • ἀπόστολος (apóstolos)
  • ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c d 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 g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  9. ^ 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