Etymologically
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χαίρω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /kʰǎi̯.rɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈçɛ.ro/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈçe.ro/[1]

Forms

χαίρω (khaírō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʰəřřō,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to find pleasure, desire”).[2][3][1] The ι of the present stem comes from the present suffix *-ye/o- added to the root.[1][4][5] A present of this kind is found in Sanskrit हर्यति (háryati, “finds pleasure, likes”).[2][4][3] Italic has Latin hortor (“to urge”) and Umbrian and Oscan verbs meaning “to want”, and Germanic has Old High German gerōn (“to desire”) and gern (“eager”).[2][4] Lubotsky reconstructs a root with a final laryngeal, which explains the Greek a.[2] The noun χάρις (kháris) is a zero-grade i-stem of the same root.[2]

An ancient etymologist derived it from χέω (khéō, “to pour”), because the soul is relaxed and pleased.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to be glad or rejoice, in one's heart or at something; the imperative χαῖρε is already a greeting and a farewell.[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

With a participle it meant to enjoy doing something, and then to be in the habit of doing it, as in Herodotus and Plato.[9][8] With a negative and a future, “you will not rejoice” meant “you will not get away with it”.[9][8] The phrase χαίρειν λέγω “I say farewell” was used both for a greeting and for dismissing something.[8] Aristophanes mocks a middle χαίρομαι as foreign, though it later appears in inscriptions and prose.[9] Theophrastus says of plants that they “rejoice” in sandy ground, that is, thrive there.[9]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament it means to rejoice, and the infinitive χαίρειν opens letters as “greeting”; the imperative is also a farewell.[10][11] Modern Greek χαίρω (chéro) survives as a learned word in set phrases such as “pleased to meet you” and “to be in excellent health”.[12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for rejoicing, and χαῖρε as a greeting.[7][9]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses the greeting formula χαίρειν.[8][13]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it with a participle for doing something gladly or habitually.[9][13]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes mocks the middle χαίρομαι.[9][13]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it of plants thriving in a soil.[9][13]
  • 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles and James open letters with χαίρειν.[10]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek χαίρω (chéro) survives in learned set phrases.[12]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be glad, rejoice; to take delight in something.[9][8]
  2. To enjoy doing something; to be in the habit of doing it.[9][8]
  3. (with a negative, usually future) Not to get away unpunished.[9][8]
  4. (imperative χαῖρε, χαίρετε) Hail, greetings; farewell.[8][10]
  5. (infinitive χαίρειν, in letters) Greeting.[10]
  6. Of plants, to thrive in a place.[9]

Word family

  • ἀντιχαίρω (antikhaírō)
  • ἐπιχαιρεκακία (epikhairekakíā)
  • ἐπιχαιρέκακος (epikhairékakos)
  • ἐπιχαίρω (epikhaírō)
  • καταχαίρω (katakhaírō)
  • προσχαίρω (proskhaírō)
  • προχαίρω (prokhaírō)
  • συγχαίρω (sunkhaírō)
  • ὑπερχαίρω (huperkhaírō)
  • χαιρετισμός (khairetismós)
  • ἀποχαιρετίζω (apokhairetízō)
  • ἐπιχαιράγαθος (epikhairágathos)
  • περιχαίρω (perikhaírō)
  • ὑποχαίρω (hupokhaírō)
  • εὐχαριστέω (eukharistéō)
  • χαρά (kharā́)
  • χαριεντίζομαι (kharientízomai)
  • χάρις (kháris)
  • χάρμα (khárma)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c 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
  5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c d Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge