τρίζω

Forms

τρῑ́ζω (trī́zō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is an imitative word.^[2][3][1] Beekes and Chantraine compare στρίγξ (strínx) “screech owl” and Latin strīdeō (“to hiss, creak”), with an initial /s/, and Tocharian A trisk- (“to drone”).^[2][3] Wiktionary sets beside them Russian стрекотать (strekotatʹ, “to chirr”).^[1] In Greek τρύζω (trúzō), also imitative, is similar but differs a little in sense.^[3][2]

The grammarian Philoxenus derived it from τείρω (teírō) “to distress”, as a cry of distress.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, mostly in the perfect τέτριγα (tétriga) with present sense: the Iliad uses it of fledglings squeaking as a snake devours them, of the shades of the dead and of wrestlers' backs creaking, and the Odyssey of bats.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Used first of the shrill cries of young birds, bats and ghosts, it was applied to many other creatures: Herodotus says that a troglodyte people squeaks like bats, and Aristotle uses it of partridges, locusts and a fish.^[6][7] It also named creaking and grinding sounds, such as a broken collarbone grating or teeth grinding, in Epicharmus, Galen and Soranus.^[6][8] The Gospel of Mark has the transitive phrase “to gnash the teeth”.^[8][7] The action nouns τριγμός (trigmós) and τρισμός (trismós) mean “shrill cry, grinding”.^[3]

The verb has lived on: Modern Greek τρίζω (trízo) is used of a hinge, a bed or a floor creaking, and has the derivatives τρίξιμο (tríximo) and τριζόνι (trizóni).^[9][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of fledglings, ghosts and creaking backs; the Odyssey of bats.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of bats and of a people who squeak like them.^[6][7][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of partridges, locusts and a fish.^[6][11]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Mark uses it of gnashing the teeth.^[8]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek τρίζω (trízo) means “to creak”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To utter a shrill cry, to squeak or twitter: of young birds, bats, mice and the shades of the dead.^[6][7]
2. To creak or grate: of wrestlers' backs, an axle, a broken bone.^[7][6]
3. (transitive) To gnash or grind the teeth.^[8][7]

Word family

• τρισμός (trismós)
• τρίγλη (trī́glē)
• τριγμός (trigmós)
• τριξέλλας (trixéllas)

Related words

• τρύζω (trúzō)
• στρίγξ (strínx)
• Latin strīdeō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge