στίζω

Forms

στῐ́ζω (stízō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *stíďďō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick, sting, be sharp”).^[1][2][3] Cognate with Old High German stih (“stitch”), German stechen (“to sting”), Latin īnstīgō (“to incite”) and Proto-Germanic *stikkô, the source of English stick.^[2][1] The present comes from *στίγ-ι̯ω (*stíg-yō), with the root visible in στίγμα (stígma, “mark”) and στιγμή (stigmḗ, “point”).^[4][2]

The grammarian Philoxenus derived it from ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand”), because punctuation “stops” the reading.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Simonides, of wind that dapples the sea.^[6][7][4]

Semantic evolution

In Herodotus it is to tattoo: he reports a people for whom being tattooed was a mark of noble birth, and that Xerxes had the Hellespont branded as a punishment.^[7][6] It is mostly used of tattooing as a mark of disgrace, as of runaway slaves.^[7][6] By extension it meant to mark an animal as one's property, and in comedy to beat someone black and blue.^[6][7]

Ancient grammarians used it for punctuating a text, as Philoxenus' etymology shows.^[5] Today Modern Greek στίζω (stízo) is a learned word: in the sense “to tattoo” it continues the ancient verb, and in the sense “to punctuate” it follows the meaning of Modern Greek στίξη (stíxi, “punctuation”).^[8]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Simonides uses it of wind dappling the sea.^[6][7][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of tattooing as a mark of noble birth and of branding the Hellespont.^[7][6][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the participle of a tattooed runaway slave.^[7][6][9]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Menander uses it of beating a slave black and blue.^[7][9]
• 1st century BC – Philoxenus explains it as punctuating a text.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prick, tattoo.^[7][6]
2. To tattoo as a punishment or mark of disgrace; to brand.^[7][6]
3. To mark an animal or a piece of land as one's own.^[6]
4. (figurative) To beat black and blue.^[7]
5. (figurative) Of wind, to dapple, stipple the sea.^[7]

Word family

• στιγμή (stigmḗ)
• στίγμα (stígma)
• στίξις (stíxis)
• στικτός (stiktós)

Related words

• English stigma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University 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