Etymologically
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τρίβω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /trǐː.bɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈtri.βo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈtri.vo/[1]

Forms

τρῑ́βω (trī́bō) [1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tr-ey-gʷ-, an extended form of *terh₁- (“to rub”).[1][2] The LIV marks the root *trei̯gʷ- (“to rub”) as doubtful,[2] and Beekes finds no exact match outside Greek; he asks whether the verb comes from *trh₁-i-gʷ-.[3] The closest forms are Latin ones such as the perfect Latin trīvī (of the verb for “to rub”) and dētrīmentum;[3][1] Tocharian B triw- (“to mix”) is far off in meaning.[3] The Πάπυρος dictionary sets out from a form with long ī and a labial extension of the root *ter- (“to pierce”), comparing τείρω (teírō) and τέρετρον (téretron).[4]

The whole Greek system was built on the present τρῑ́βω with its long vowel; forms with short ι, such as the aorist passive and the noun τρίβος (tríbos), were made by analogy with verbs and nouns like στίβος (stíbos).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of oxen treading out barley on the threshing floor (20.496), and in the Odyssey of twisting a stake round in an eye (9.333).[5] The Iliad also has the passive for men worn down by hardships (23.735).[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 6th century BC Theognis has gold rubbed on the touchstone to test it, and Plato has a man rubbing his leg.[5] The verb also meant to pound or knead, as drugs and dough are pounded in Aristophanes and Plato.[5] From rubbing came wearing out: clothes and shoes were worn, a road was trodden smooth.[5] Of time it meant to spend, often to waste, one's life (Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes), and to drag out a war; of people, to wear them out, as Hesiod's crooked judges wear one another down; of property, to squander it (Herodotus).[5] The perfect passive described words worn by constant use, common and trite.[5]

The Septuagint uses it for grinding manna and kneading dough, and for paths worn smooth.[6] It was borrowed into Coptic ⲧⲣⲓⲃⲱ (tribō), recorded in Sahidic about AD 800.[7] The verb continues as Modern Greek τρίβω (trívo, “to rub”).[8][9]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of threshing barley and of men worn down by hardships.[5][10]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days uses it of people wearing one another out with crooked judgements.[5][11]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of rubbing gold on a touchstone.[5][11]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of squandering property.[5][11]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of spending a life of misfortune.[5][11]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of rubbing a leg and pounding hemlock.[5][11]
  • Septuagint – It is used for grinding manna (Numbers 11:8).[6]
  • About AD 800 – A Sahidic Coptic text has the borrowing ⲧⲣⲓⲃⲱ.[7]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as τρίβω, “to rub”.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rub; to thresh grain by treading it.[5]
  2. To pound, bruise, knead; to crush.[5][6]
  3. To wear out clothes or shoes; to tread a road smooth.[5][6]
  4. Of time, to spend or waste it; to drag out a war.[5]
  5. To wear out, exhaust people.[5]
  6. To waste, squander property.[5]
  7. To use constantly; in the passive, to be worn, trite, of words.[5]

Word family

  • ἀποτριβή (apotribḗ)
  • ἀτριβής (atribḗs)
  • διατριβή (diatribḗ)
  • ἐντριβής (entribḗs)
  • οἰκοτριβής (oikotribḗs)
  • οἰκότριψ (oikótrips)
  • παιδοτριβέω (paidotribéō)
  • παιδοτρίβης (paidotríbēs)
  • παλιντριβής (palintribḗs)
  • παρατριβή (paratribḗ)
  • περιτριβής (peritribḗs)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  10. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  11. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge