φεύγω

Forms

φεύγω (pheúgō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰéugō,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- (“to flee”).^[2][1] The full-grade present was built beside an inherited zero-grade aorist.^[2][3] The nasal present φυγγάνω (phungánō) was formed later on the model of τυγχάνω (tunkhánō).^[2]

Cognate with Latin fugiō (“to flee”), Lithuanian bū́gti (“to be frightened”) and baugùs (“fearful”); the Greek and Latin nouns often match each other, as φυγή (phugḗ) and fuga do.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning to flee, run away from danger, or escape.^[2][4][5] In the Iliad it is also used of things that slip away: the reins slipping from a driver's grasp, or rash words escaping a person's mouth.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From “to flee” came “to escape, avoid” (death, old age, the will of the gods) and “to shun” (wickedness, a duty).^[5] Exile was a flight: the aorist meant to be driven into exile and the present to live in exile, from Theognis and Aeschylus on.^[5][2] In Athenian law it meant to be the defendant, the opposite of διώκω (diṓkō) “to prosecute”.^[5][2]

Its derivatives include φυγή (phugḗ, “flight, exile”), φυγάς (phugás, “fugitive, exile”) and the Homeric φύζα (phúza, “panic”).^[2] The modern Modern Greek φεύγω (févgo) means mainly “to leave, depart”, a sense it had acquired by the Middle Ages.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for fleeing and escaping.^[4][5]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of living in exile.^[5][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of being driven into exile.^[5][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and the Attic orators use it for being prosecuted.^[5][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for shunning wickedness.^[5][7]
• Middle Ages – It takes on the sense “to leave, depart”, its main sense in Modern Greek.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To flee, run away; to flee from a person or place.^[5][4]
2. To be put to flight.^[5]
3. To speed, fly along (in a race).^[5]
4. To get away, escape from a battle, death or suffering.^[5]
5. To try to escape; to avoid, evade (death, fate, an obligation).^[5]
6. To shun; to shrink from doing something.^[5]
7. (of things) To slip from someone's grasp or mouth.^[5]
8. To be driven into exile; to go into exile from a country.^[5][2]
9. To live in exile.^[5]
10. (law) To be the defendant, be prosecuted; to face a charge.^[5][2]
11. To take refuge in a defence; to plead in defence.^[5]

Word family

• ἀποφεύγω (apopheúgō)
• διαφεύγω (diapheúgō)
• ἐκφεύγω (ekpheúgō)
• καταφεύγω (katapheúgō)
• προσφεύγω (prospheúgō)
• συμφεύγω (sumpheúgō)
• ὑπεκφεύγω (hupekpheúgō)
• ὑποφεύγω (hupopheúgō)

Related words

• ἀειφυγία (aeiphugía)
• φυγαδεύω (phugadeúō)
• φυγάς (phugás)
• φυγομαχέω (phugomakhéō)
• φύζα (phúza)
• φυγή (phugḗ)
• Latin fugiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge