τίθημι

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tí.tʰɛː.mi/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈti.θi.mi/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈti.θi.mi/^[1]

Forms

τῐ́θημῐ (títhēmi) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *títʰēmi, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰí-dʰeh₁-mi, the reduplicated present of Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, make”).^[1][2][3] Beekes thinks the Greek reduplication vowel ⟨ι⟩ older than the ⟨a⟩ of Sanskrit दधाति (dádhāti) and Avestan dadāiti.^[2] The aorist ⟨ἔθηκα⟩ has a k-suffix also found in Old Latin ⟨fēced⟩ “made”; the root aorist without it is seen in a Boeotian dedication ⟨ἀνέθε⟩ and in Sanskrit अधात् (ádhāt).^[2][4] A Mycenaean ⟨te-ke⟩ may belong here, though its meaning is uncertain.^[2][4]

The same root gives Old English dōn (“to do”), Latin faciō (“to make”) and Old Armenian դնեմ (dnem, “I put”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for putting and placing things, for burying, for setting up prizes, and for making or causing, as when a god “puts” courage in someone's heart.^[5][1][6]

Semantic evolution

Its range is very wide: to put, place or set; to lay down, deposit or pay money; to bury; to set up and dedicate offerings; to assign or award.^[1][5] From “set down” came “to establish”: to lay down laws (in the middle, of a people giving itself laws), to institute, to give a name, and to vote, “put down one's pebble”.^[1][7] With a predicate it means to make someone something, or to regard and reckon something as such.^[1][5] Military phrases with τὰ ὅπλα mean to rest arms, to take position, or to lay them down.^[1]

In the New Testament it is used for laying a body in the tomb and laying a foundation.^[8] Its many derivatives include θέσις (thésis, “placing, thesis”), θέμα (théma, “proposition, theme”), θήκη (thḗkē, “box, case”), θεσμός (thesmós, “law”) and ἀνάθημα (anáthēma).^[2][3][1] Modern Greek has the new present θέτω (théto).^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – It is used for placing, burying and setting up prizes.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use the middle for making laws and agreements.^[7]
• 4th century BC – The perfect τέθηκα is first attested.^[4]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for setting, placing and laying stones.^[9]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for laying a body in the tomb.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put, place, set.^[1][5]
2. To lay down; to deposit; to pay.^[1][5]
3. To bury.^[1][8]
4. To set up, dedicate an offering; to set before.^[1][5]
5. To assign, award.^[1]
6. To lay down, enact laws, or (middle) to agree upon.^[1][7]
7. To establish, institute; to ordain.^[1]
8. To make, cause to be.^[1][5]
9. To regard, reckon as; to suppose.^[1][5]
10. (with ψῆφον) To vote.^[1]

Word family

• ἀγωνοθετέω (agōnothetéō)
• ἄθετος (áthetos)
• ἀμφιτίθημι (amphitíthēmi)
• ἀνατίθημι (anatíthēmi)
• ἀντιτίθημι (antitíthēmi)
• ἀποτίθημι (apotíthēmi)
• διατίθημι (diatíthēmi)
• εἰστίθημι (eistíthēmi)
• ἐκτίθημι (ektíthēmi)
• ἐντίθημι (entíthēmi)
• ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi)

Related words

• θέμα (théma)
• θέμεθλα (thémethla)
• θεμέλιος (themélios)
• θέμις (thémis)
• θέσις (thésis)
• θέσμιος (thésmios)
• θεσμός (thesmós)
• θετέος (thetéos)
• θήκη (thḗkē)
• ἀνάθημα (anáthēma)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft