τίκτω

Forms

τίκτω (tíktō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tíktō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *títḱeti, a present with i-reduplication of the root *teḱ- (“to beget, produce”).^[1][2][3] The present stands for *τίτκω (*títkō), with the two consonants of the root swapped; the root itself appears in the aorist ἔτεκον (étekon).^[4][5] Beekes links the root with the reduplicated present Sanskrit तक्षति (takṣati, “fashions”), and notes that Greek seems to be the only language to keep the simple root.^[2]

Within Greek it is related to τέκνον (téknon, “child”) and τόκος (tókos, “birth, offspring”), and Wiktionary adds τέκτων (téktōn, “builder”) and τέχνη (tékhnē, “craft”).^[1][4] According to Wiktionary it took over the active of the inherited verb that became γίγνομαι (gígnomai).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the first book of the Iliad on, mostly in the aorist, for a mother or goddess bearing a child and for a father begetting one.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb is said mainly of the mother, but also of the father, and the aorist participle became a noun: ἡ τεκοῦσα “the mother”, οἱ τεκόντες “the parents”.^[4][7] It was used of animals giving birth and, in Herodotus and Aristophanes, of laying eggs.^[7] In Ionic and Attic it widened to “to produce, create”: the earth bears plants, night bears the day, and people beget words, laws and calamities.^[7][4]

The New Testament uses it for giving birth and, figuratively, for the earth producing plants and desire bringing forth sin.^[8] It survives as Modern Greek τίκτω (tíkto), only as a learned verb for a woman giving birth, chiefly in church language.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of mothers bearing children and of fathers begetting them.^[7][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of goddesses bearing the gods.^[6][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for “to give birth” without an object, for laying eggs, and of a country that breeds famine.^[7][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for creating speeches and laws.^[7][10]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for giving birth, and figuratively of the earth bringing forth plants.^[8]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word, mainly in church language.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a woman or goddess: to bear (a child); to give birth.^[7][11]
2. Of a man or god: to beget, father.^[7][11]
3. Of animals: to give birth to (young); to lay (an egg).^[7]
4. Of the earth, the sky, a land or a plant: to produce, bring forth.^[7]
5. (figurative) To create, give rise to (words, songs, laws, calamities, consequences).^[7][8]

Word family

• τέκνον (téknon)
• τέκος (tékos)
• τόκος (tókos)

Usage notes

The aorist participle is used as a noun: ἡ τεκοῦσα is “the mother”, ὁ τεκών “the father” and οἱ τεκόντες “the parents”.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 c d e 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. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ 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
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. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press