στρέφω

Forms

στρέφω (stréphō) ^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][3] Beekes, following van Beek, considers it Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek: the root has no Indo-European cognates, and its relation to στρεβλός (streblós, “twisted”) shows the substrate variation ⟨β⟩ / ⟨φ⟩.^[2][4] The PHILOGLOSSA database rates this as very reliable.^[5] LIV nevertheless lists a root Proto-Indo-European *strebʰ- (“to turn”), found only in Greek, and Wiktionary notes the traditional comparison with Proto-West Germanic *stroppōn (“to twist”).^[6][1] Frisk saw it as an inherited word of recent date, whose regular and productive word family does not look borrowed but has no convincing cognates.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of turning horses round and of ploughmen turning their teams.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to turn something in a direction, to turn round or back (an army in flight), to twist, and to make revolve, as a spindle in Herodotus or the universe in Plato.^[8][9] In the middle and passive it means to turn oneself, to roam about, to toss in bed, and to be engaged in something.^[8] Frisk notes that it partly displaced older words for turning such as εἰλέω (eiléō).^[3]

The Septuagint uses it for turning something into something else and for turning hearts back, and in the New Testament one turns the other cheek, and must turn and become like children.^[10][11] It is the base of στροφή (strophḗ, “turning”) and of compounds such as καταστροφή (katastrophḗ) and ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ).^[2][3] Modern Greek has the learned στρέφω (stréfo) and the popular στρίβω “to turn, twist”.^[12][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for turning horses and plough teams.^[7][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for turning a spindle.^[8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the revolution of the universe.^[8]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for turning one thing into another.^[10]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for turning the cheek and for turning back.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn in a direction; to direct.^[8][11]
2. To turn round or back; to rout an army.^[8]
3. To twist.^[1][2]
4. To make revolve, spin.^[8]
5. To turn into, change; to convert.^[10][11]
6. (middle and passive) To turn oneself; to roam about; to toss about.^[8]
7. (middle and passive) To be engaged in something.^[8]

Related words

• στρεβλός (streblós)
• στροφή (strophḗ)
• καταστροφή (katastrophḗ)
• ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b c d 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
12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki