ἀναφέρω

Forms

ᾰ̓νᾰφέρω (anaphérō) ^[1] Future ἀνοίσω (anoísō), aorist ἀνήνεγκα (anḗnenka) (Ionic ⟨ἀνήνεικα⟩, epic ⟨ἀνένεικα⟩), Ionic aorist infinitive ⟨ἀνοῖσαι⟩.^[2][3] Poetic and dialectal ⟨ἀμφέρω⟩, in Pindar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-, “up, back”) + φέρω (phérō, “to carry”).^[1][4] The verb φέρω (phérō) continues the Indo-European present of Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”), cognate with Latin ferō.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it twice: in the Odyssey it is used of bringing Cerberus up from Hades, and in the Iliad the middle is used of fetching up a deep sigh.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, “to carry up”, led in Herodotus and the historians to “to take up country”, into the interior of Asia, and in Attic to carrying money up to the Acropolis, that is, depositing it in the treasury.^[2][3] From “to carry back” came the senses “to bring back a report”, “to refer a matter to someone” and “to trace one's descent back to an ancestor”, Herodotus speaks of referring decisions to the community.^[2][3][4] Used intransitively it meant “to come to oneself, recover”, a sense found in Herodotus and the Hippocratic writers.^[2]

The Septuagint uses it of everything that goes up, from incense and smoke to hymns, and especially of offering sacrifice; the Epistle to the Hebrews uses it of offering sacrifice and of bearing the sins of many.^[7][2][8] In the papyri it is the usual verb for making an official report.^[2]

Medieval Greek used it of telling, relating and denouncing.^[9] In Modern Greek αναφέρω (anaféro) means “to mention” and “to report”, the latter sense a learned calque on French rapporter.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the middle for fetching up a sigh, and the Odyssey the active for bringing Cerberus up from Hades.^[6][2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for carrying up country, reporting and referring a matter to someone.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for recovering the oars and for bringing exiles back.^[2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for tracing a family back to an ancestor.^[2]
• 2nd century BC – Papyri use it for making an official report.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for leading up a mountain and for offering a sacrifice.^[11][7]
• Modern Greek – αναφέρω (anaféro) means “to mention, report”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring up or carry up, from a lower place to a higher.^[3][2]
2. To carry up money to the Acropolis, to deposit it in the treasury.^[2][3]
3. To bring up or pour forth tears, blood, cries.^[2]
4. To take upon oneself a burden, dangers, blame.^[2]
5. (Septuagint, New Testament) To offer up in sacrifice.^[2][7][8]
6. (intransitive) Of a road, to lead up.^[2]
7. To bring or carry back; to bring back from exile.^[2][3]
8. To bring back word, to report.^[2][3]
9. To trace one's descent back to an ancestor.^[2][3]
10. To refer a matter to someone; to ascribe a fault to someone.^[2][3]
11. (intransitive, also passive) To come to oneself, recover.^[2]
12. To enter in an account; to pay over to the treasury.^[2]

Word family

• ἀναφορέω (anaphoréō)
• ἀνάφορον (anáphoron)
• ἀναφορά (anaphorā́)

Related words

• φέρω (phérō)

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 r s t u v w x y 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
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