φείδομαι

Forms

φείδομαι (pheídomai) ^[1]

Etymology

Beekes holds that it must be an inherited verb, and in sound it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”),^[2][3] a root that gives Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “to bite”), English bite, Latin findō (“to split”) and Sanskrit भेदति (bhedati, “to split”).^[2][1][4] Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan) corresponds to φείδομαι exactly in its sounds.^[4]

No convincing account of the change of meaning has been found: Beekes and Frisk suggest “to nip off stingily” or “to cut oneself away from something, withdraw”.^[2][4] Chantraine takes the first sense to be “to separate something from oneself, to keep it in reserve”, pointing to the middle voice and to the genitive the verb takes, which he explains as an old ablative.^[5] Frisk rejects an older link with the root of Sanskrit बिभेति (bibheti, “to fear”).^[4] Chantraine notes that its derivatives keep traces of an old alternation of stems, as in φειδωλός (pheidōlós) and the name Φείδων (Pheídōn).^[5]

Ancient grammarians derived it from φεύγω (pheúgō, “to flee”) and δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”), “to flee giving”.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.^[2][5] In the Iliad it means to keep something from harm by sparing its use, as of horses kept back from the fighting, and also to spare a defeated enemy's life.^[8][9] In Homer the reduplicated aorist πεφιδέσθαι (pephidésthai) is used of sparing an adversary, while the sigmatic aorist means wanting to keep something.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Archaic and Classical Greek it meant to spare persons, cities and possessions from death or destruction, and to keep resources back, often in negative phrases such as “not sparing one's life”.^[9][8] Hesiod and Theognis use it of thrift, and in Attic prose the participle came to mean “thrifty”.^[8] With an infinitive or a genitive of action it meant to hold back from doing something, as in Xenophon.^[8][9]

The Septuagint builds it with prepositions in the sense “to have mercy on”, and in the New Testament it is mostly negated, “not to spare” someone.^[8][10] Later Greek formed a passive future with middle meaning.^[8][5]

Modern Greek uses φείδομαι (feídomai) as a learned word, always with a negative, of not sparing money or effort.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of sparing horses and enemies.^[8][9]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of thrifty use of a store jar's contents.^[8][12]
• 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it of sparing his native land.^[8][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of holding back from danger or speaking.^[8][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it, mostly negated, of not sparing someone.^[10]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word, used only with a negative.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spare persons, animals or things from death, punishment or destruction, with the genitive.^[8][9]
2. To keep from risk or loss, to hold back from use, and in negative phrases to refuse to give up something precious.^[9][8]
3. To use sparingly, to be thrifty; the participle means “thrifty”.^[8][9]
4. To refrain or draw back from an action, with the genitive or the infinitive.^[8]
5. (Septuagint) To have mercy on, built with prepositions.^[8]

Word family

• ἀφειδής (apheidḗs)
• φειδός (pheidós)
• φειδώ (pheidṓ)
• φειδωλός (pheidōlós)

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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge