ἀμείβω

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /a.měː.bɔː/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /aˈmi.βo/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /aˈmi.vo/^[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓μείβω (ameíbō); future ἀμείψω, aorist ἤμειψα (epic ἄμειψα); middle ἀμείβομαι, aorist ἠμειψάμην.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meygʷ- (“to change”).^[1][4] LIV classes it as a full-grade e-present of this root.^[5] There is no exact correspondence outside Greek.^[4] It has been compared with Latin migrō (“to move, migrate”), as if from a *migros “changing (place)”.^[4][6] The -β- probably continues /gʷ/, since /b/ was rare in PIE.^[4] The root may be an extension of Proto-Indo-European *h₂mey- (“to change”), seen in commūnis, though an enlargement -gʷ- is unusual.^[4] Babiniotis takes the initial ἀ- as a prothetic vowel.^[7]

Its o-grade derivatives are ἀμοιβή (amoibḗ, “exchange, requital, answer”) and ἀμοιβός (amoibós, “one who exchanges”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for changing or exchanging things: gold armour is exchanged with Diomedes for bronze (Iliad 6.235).^[3][2] The middle is far more frequent: “to answer”, and “to requite” someone with gifts.^[3][2] The participle ἀμείβοντες names rafters that meet and cross (Iliad 23.712).^[4]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy the active means to give or take one thing in exchange for another: Euripides uses it of trading clothes, of taking a mortal shape in place of a god's, and of a man who lets his wife die in his place.^[2] It also means to change one's appearance or colour (the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Aeschylus), to alternate or follow in turn, and to pass from one place to another.^[2][6] The middle keeps the Homeric senses “to answer” and “to repay”.^[2][8]

It survives in Modern Greek αμείβω (ameívo), a learned word meaning to reward or to pay for work.^[9] The sense of reward continues the ancient middle “to requite”.^[9][7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for exchanging armour, and its middle for answering and requiting.^[3][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a change of colour.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for giving or taking something in exchange.^[2][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the noun ἄμειψις “exchange”.^[4][6]
• Modern Greek – αμείβω is a learned word for to reward or pay.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To exchange one thing for another; to give or take in exchange.^[2][8][1]
2. To change or alter (an appearance, a colour, a position).^[2][6]
3. To make things follow in turn; to alternate; to pass from one place to another.^[2][1]
4. (middle) To answer or reply.^[2][3]
5. (middle) To repay or requite someone, for good or ill.^[2][3][1]

Word family

• ἀμοιβή (amoibḗ)
• ἀμοιβός (amoibós)
• ἀμοιβαῖος (amoibaîos)
• ἄμειψις (ámeipsis)

Related words

• ἀμοιβήδην (amoibḗdēn)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki