ἀνατέλλω

Forms

ἀνᾰτέλλω (anatéllō) ^[1] Poetic ἀντέλλω.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-, “up”) + τέλλω (téllō, “to rise; to accomplish”).^[1][4] The simple verb, in Chantraine's account a yod-present, has two groups of senses, “to rise, grow” (often of stars) and “to order, enjoin”; ἀνατέλλω belongs to the first.^[5] Beekes asks whether τέλλω (téllō) is *telh₂-i̯e/o-, from the root of ταλάσσαι (talássai, “to endure”), or the same verb as τέλλομαι (téllomai),^[6] and Chantraine compares τέλος (télos, “end, fulfilment”) for the notion of completion.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use, in the Iliad, is transitive: the river Simoeis made ambrosia spring up for the horses of the gods to graze on.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In early poetry the verb was transitive, “to make rise, make grow”: Pindar uses it of water gushing out and of a city giving birth to Dionysus.^[2][3] From Sophocles and Herodotus on it is mostly intransitive, “to rise above the horizon”, of the sun, moon and stars, and Herodotus marks the east by the rising sun; it also meant “to take its source”, of rivers, and “to grow”, of hair, teeth and plants.^[2][3][7] Its noun is ἀνατολή (anatolḗ, “rising; the east”).^[4]

The Septuagint uses it for the earth bringing forth thorns, and the New Testament for God making the sun rise (Matthew 5:45) and, figuratively, for the Lord who “sprang from” Judah (Hebrews 7:14).^[2][7] Modern Greek uses the learned ανατέλλω (anatéllo) for the sun rising and, in a sense dating from the Hellenistic period, for something new appearing.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad has the river Simoeis make ambrosia spring up.^[2][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of water gushing forth and of the birth of Dionysus.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the rising sun and of a river rising from a lake.^[2][3]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of teeth coming through.^[2][3]
• 1st century AD – Matthew's Gospel uses it of God causing the sun to rise.^[7][2]
• Modern Greek – Learned ανατέλλω (anatéllo) is used of the sun and of new beginnings.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make rise or spring up; to make grow, bring forth.^[2][3]
2. (transitive) To bear, give birth to; of events, to give rise to.^[2][3]
3. (intransitive) Of the sun, moon and stars, to rise above the horizon.^[2][7]
4. (intransitive) Of a river, to take its source.^[2][3]
5. (intransitive) Of hair, teeth and plants, to grow, come up.^[2][3]
6. (New Testament) Of persons, to descend, spring from a family.^[2][7]

Word family

• ἐξανατέλλω (exanatéllō)

Related words

• ἀνατολή (anatolḗ)
• τέλλω (téllō)

Usage notes

Astronomers distinguished it from ἐπιτέλλω (epitéllō), of a star rising heliacally, though the two are sometimes used alike.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki