φεύγω
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /pʰěu̯.ɡɔː/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈɸeβ.ɣo/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈfev.ɣo/[1]
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
- To flee, run away; to flee from a person or place.[5][4]
- To be put to flight.[5]
- To speed, fly along (in a race).[5]
- To get away, escape from a battle, death or suffering.[5]
- To try to escape; to avoid, evade (death, fate, an obligation).[5]
- To shun; to shrink from doing something.[5]
- (of things) To slip from someone's grasp or mouth.[5]
- To be driven into exile; to go into exile from a country.[5][2]
- To live in exile.[5]
- (law) To be the defendant, be prosecuted; to face a charge.[5][2]
- 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
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
- ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge