Etymologically
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φύω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pʰý.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈɸy.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈfy.o/[1]

Forms

φῠ́ω (phúō) [1] Intransitive root aorist ἔφῡν, perfect πέφῡκα; transitive aorist ἔφῡσα; middle and passive φύομαι.[2][3] Mycenaean Greek pu-te, Mycenaean Greek pu-te-re /phuteres/, interpretation uncertain.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰúyō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰweh₂- (“to grow, arise, become”).[1][4][3] The whole verbal system was built on the old intransitive root aorist ἔφυν (éphun, “grew, came to be”), which LIV sets beside the perfect Latin fuī.[4][3] After pairs such as ἔστην (éstēn) and ἔστησα (éstēsa), a transitive aorist ἔφυσα (éphusa), “made grow”, was formed, and then the presents φύομαι (phúomai) and φύω and their futures.[3][5] The present may continue the zero-grade *bʰuh₂-yé-, like Latin fīō (“to become”).[4] The perfect πέφυκα (péphuka) is old in principle but was influenced by the aorist.[3][5]

Cognate with Sanskrit भवति (bhávati, “becomes, is”), Old Armenian բոյս (boys, “plant”) and Old English bēon (“to be”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used of plants growing and of hair and horns growing on a body;[2] the first example in GLAUx is the pluperfect πεφύκει (pephúkei) in the Iliad (4.109).[6] The transitive “to make grow, produce” is also Homeric: the earth puts forth crops and trees their leaves.[2]

Semantic evolution

Beekes notes that the transitive forms were always much less prominent than the old intransitive ones.[3] In Classical Greek the transitive verb means to beget a child, to grow hair or teeth, of god or nature to create, and figuratively to bring about troubles or win glory;[2] the intransitive means to be born, to grow, to come into being, and in the perfect to exist or be endowed by nature.[3][2]

The verb is the source of a large family: φύσις (phúsis, “nature”), φυτόν (phutón, “plant”), φῦλον (phûlon, “race, tribe”) and φυλή (phūlḗ), and φυσικός (phusikós), with many compounds in -φυής.[3][5] Modern Greek has the learned φύομαι (fíome, “to grow”) for plants,[7] and Babiniotis lists its compounds such as αναφύομαι (anafíome).[8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of plants and horns growing, and of the earth producing crops.[2][6]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of a father begetting a child.[2][9]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides uses the middle of the universe coming into being.[2][9]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of acquiring intelligence.[2][9]
  • 4th century BC – Plato and Demosthenes use it of situations arising.[2][9]
  • Modern Greek – The learned φύομαι is used of plants growing.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To beget a child; to be the parent of.[2]
  2. (transitive) To put forth, produce crops or leaves; to grow hair, teeth or horns.[2]
  3. (transitive) Of a god or nature, to create; figuratively, to bring about.[2]
  4. (intransitive, also middle) To be born.[2][3]
  5. (intransitive, also middle) To grow, spring up.[2][3]
  6. (intransitive, also middle) To come into being, arise.[2]
  7. (perfect) To be by nature, be naturally present.[2][3]

Word family

  • ἐμφύω (emphúō)
  • φῦλον (phûlon)
  • φῦμα (phûma)
  • φυσικός (phusikós)
  • φύσις (phúsis)
  • φυτόν (phutón)
  • φύτωρ (phútōr)
  • φυλή (phūlḗ)
  • φυτός (phutós)

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 k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b c d Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge