χρίω

Forms

χρῑ́ω (khrī́ō) ^[1] Future χρίσω, aorist ἔχρισα, perfect κέχρικα (Septuagint); middle future χρίσομαι; passive aorist ἐχρίσθην, perfect κέχριμαι, later κέχρισμαι.^[2][3] The ι is long in every tense.^[2]

Etymology

It is a primary present built on a stem χρῑσ- (khrīs-), according to Chantraine.^[3] In the view of LIV it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrey- (“to spread, apply ointment”), with a zero-grade present in *-i̯é- and a sigmatic aorist.^[4] Wiktionary suggests the root may be an extension of Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub”).^[1]

The only close cognate is Lithuanian griẽti (“to skim cream off milk”).^[4][3] Chantraine rejects the comparison with the participles in Phrygian γεγρειμεναν (gegreimenan), which are not yet explained.^[3] He also notes that χρίω stands beside χραύω (khraúō, “to graze”), as ψίω (psíō) stands beside ψαύω (psaúō).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey people are washed and rubbed with olive oil after bathing, and the Iliad uses it of anointing a dead body.^[2][3] Chantraine thinks the verbal adjective may already appear in Mycenaean, as Mycenaean Greek ki-ri-ta of dyed cloths.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Homer and Hesiod the verb meant to rub with oil or unguent, after a bath or for a funeral, and the middle to anoint oneself; the Odyssey also uses the middle of smearing arrows with poison.^[2][3] Sophocles uses it of a robe smeared with poison, and Euripides figuratively of an arrow anointed with desire.^[2] With things as its object it came to mean “to coat” or “to colour”: Herodotus uses it of goatskins dyed with madder and of things coated with pitch, and Xenophon of asphalt.^[2][3] Aeschylus alone uses it for the sting of a gadfly.^[3][2]

The Septuagint uses it for anointing a person as a sign of consecration, as king, ruler or prophet.^[2][3] Its verbal adjective χριστός (khrīstós) came to mean “anointed”, and derivatives such as χρῖσμα (khrîsma) “ointment” are common.^[5][3]

Medieval Greek also formed χρίζω (khrízo) from the aorist stem χρισ-.^[6] In Modern Greek χρίω (khrío) is a learned word for anointing in church, for proclaiming an emperor or a knight, and, of a party, for naming a candidate.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey and the Iliad use it of anointing with oil after bathing and of anointing the dead.^[2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the middle for anointing oneself.^[2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a gadfly's sting.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of dyed goatskins and of coating with pitch.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned word means to anoint in church and to name a candidate.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rub or anoint with oil or scented unguents, or (middle) to anoint oneself.^[2][3]
2. To smear with poison.^[2]
3. To coat or colour with dye, pitch or asphalt.^[2][3]
4. To graze the surface; to sting, as a gadfly.^[2]
5. (Septuagint) To anoint as a sign of consecration, as king or prophet.^[2][1]

Word family

• χρῖμα (khrîma)
• χρῖσμα (khrîsma)
• χριστός (khrīstós)
• χρισμός (khrīsmós)
• χρῖσις (khrîsis)

Related words

• ἐγχρίω (enkhrī́ō)
• ἐπιχρίω (epikhrī́ō)
• καταχρίω (katakhrī́ō)
• χραύω (khraúō)
• χρῶμα (khrôma)

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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki