Etymologically
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σφίγγω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /spʰíŋ.ɡɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈsɸiŋ.ɡo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈsfiŋ.ɡo/[1]

Forms

σφῐ́γγω (sphíngō) [1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it possibly Pre-Greek, because the forms without a nasal, such as ἔσφιγμαι (ésphigmai), σφίγμα (sphígma) and ἀπόσφιξις (apósphixis), may show the variation of a prenasalised consonant.[2][3] Chantraine instead takes the nasal of σφίγγω as an expressive one and the forms without it as secondary, and he finds no etymology.[4][5] The LIV tentatively sets up Proto-Indo-European *spʰei̯g- (“to lace up”), with the Greek verb as a nasal-infix present and Latvian and Germanic relatives.[6]

The name of the Sphinx, Σφίγξ (Sphínx), was connected with σφίγγω only by folk etymology, according to Chantraine.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Empedocles, of the aether binding everything round in a circle, and in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, where it is an order to bind tighter.[7][8][2]

Semantic evolution

Plato uses it of the circular motion that holds all things together, and the pseudo-Aristotelian On the World says the ocean binds the inhabited earth.[7][8] In Theocritus the sheaf-binders are told to tie the sheaves tight.[7][8] Medical writers use it of astringents and firm flesh, and Plutarch of compressing one's style.[7]

The Latin spinter (“bracelet”) and spintria (“male prostitute”) were borrowed from this verb.[2] The Coptic loanword ⲥⲫⲓⲅⲅⲱ (sphingō) is recorded in Sahidic.[9]

Modern Greek σφίγγω (sfíngo) is one of the common verbs of Modern Greek: to grip, squeeze, tighten and pinch.[10][5] Its derivatives include Modern Greek σφιχτός (sfichtós, “tight”), from Hellenistic σφιγκτός (sphinktós), and Modern Greek σφιγκτήρας (sfinktíras, “sphincter”).[11]

Timeline

  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound uses it of binding fast.[7][11][12]
  • 5th century BC – Empedocles uses it of the aether that holds all things together.[7][12]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of the circular motion that holds everything together.[7][8][12]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of tying sheaves.[7][12]
  • 2nd century AD – Galen uses it of astringents.[7][12]
  • Modern Greek – It is the everyday verb for squeezing and tightening.[10][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bind tight, bind fast: a person, sheaves, hair; to shut close.[7][8]
  2. To tie something fast round something else, as a band or a fetter.[7]
  3. To bind or hold together, of the aether, the ocean, circular motion.[7][8]
  4. To tie up in a bundle.[7]
  5. (medicine) To tighten up, make firm; of astringents.[7]
  6. To press together, and of style, to compress or abridge.[7]

Word family

  • ἐπισφίγγω (episphíngō)
  • σφιγκτήρ (sphinktḗr)
  • σφιγκτός (sphinktós)
  • σφίγμα (sphígma)
  • σφίγξις (sphínxis)
  • ὑποσφίγγω (huposphíngō)
  • Latin spinter

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  5. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  12. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge