τίλλω

Forms

τῐ́λλω (tíllō) ^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][1] With its suffix in *-ye- it cannot be an old primary verb; if it is not a loan, it must be a denominative from an unattested noun such as *τίλος (*tílos), and it has no cognates outside Greek.^[2][3] Frisk and Chantraine suggest that it is from Ancient Greek πτίλον (ptílon, “feather, down”), from a verb *πτίλλω (*ptíllō) whose π was lost by dissimilation in compounds such as ἀποτίλλω (apotíllō) and παρατίλλω (paratíllō).^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used of tearing out hair: in the Iliad grey hairs are plucked from the head in grief, and the middle voice means to tear one's hair in mourning for someone.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the Odyssey a bird of prey plucks a dove, and Aeschylus has a hawk tearing at a bird's head.^[6][7] In Comedy it is used of plucking poultry and of men being depilated, the second often with obscene jokes, and Aristophanes' birds threaten to pluck a man.^[7][6] Its figurative sense, to vex or annoy, appears in Anacreon.^[6] It was not used in Attic prose.^[6][2]

In the papyri it is used of picking chickpeas, of stripping fleece and fibre, and of a tanner removing hair from a hide.^[6][9] The Gospels use it when the disciples pick ears of grain on the Sabbath, the scene of στάχυς (stákhus) in Matthew 12:1.^[10][9]

Modern Greek τίλλω (tíllo) means to pluck hair, feathers or leaves, and also to fray, of cloth.^[11][5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of tearing the hair in grief, and the Odyssey of a bird plucking a dove.^[6][7]
• 6th century BC – Anacreon uses it figuratively for vexing someone.^[6][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a hawk tearing at a bird's head.^[6][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of plucking birds and of depilation.^[7][6][12]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use it for picking chickpeas and for extracting fibre.^[6][9]
• Modern Greek – It still means to pluck, and of cloth to fray.^[11][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pluck or pull out hair or feathers; to tear one's hair in grief.^[6][7]
2. (middle) To tear one's hair in mourning for someone.^[6][7]
3. To pluck a bird; of a bird of prey, to tear at its victim.^[6][7]
4. (Comedy) To pluck a person, to depilate.^[7]
5. To pick ears of grain, leaves or pulses; to strip fibre or fleece.^[6][10][9]
6. (figurative) To vex, annoy.^[6]

Word family

• ἀποτίλλω (apotíllō)
• παρατίλλω (paratíllō)
• περιτίλλω (peritíllō)
• τιλμός (tilmós)
• τίλσις (tílsis)
• τιλλοπώγων (tillopṓgōn)
• τίλμα (tílma)

Usage notes

Comedy calls an idle man “one who plucks himself”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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
4. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge