ἀποστρέφω

Forms

ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away, back”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).^[1][2] Beekes considers the simple verb Pre-Greek, because στρεβλός (streblós, “twisted”) and its cognates show a variation between β and φ, although LIV lists an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *strebʰ- (“to twist”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means “to turn back”: the Iliad uses it for turning men back from their course and for turning the Achaeans to flight, and the Odyssey for turning a ship back, for rolling a stone back and for twisting a man's feet and hands behind him to bind them.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The Homeric Hymn to Hermes uses it for turning the cattle's tracks backwards so that they seem to go the other way, and Theognis for turning one's neck away.^[5][6] In classical Greek it covers sending troops home (Thucydides), putting ships to flight (Herodotus), averting harm (Aeschylus), twisting a limb (Aristophanes) and dissuading someone.^[5][6] Plato uses it for turning an argument into its opposite, and later engineers for diverting a river from a besieged city.^[6] The middle and passive mean “to turn away from”, and so “to reject, spurn”, as in Sophocles' “do not turn away from me”.^[6][5]

The Septuagint often has “to turn away the face”.^[7] In the New Testament it is used for turning one's ear away from the truth, for God's turning away ungodliness, and, in Luke, for a man accused of misleading the people.^[7][6] Its nouns ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ) and ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos) gave rhetoric and grammar their terms for turning away to address someone.^[2]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for directing, sending away and disregarding.^[8] In Modern Greek the learned αποστρέφω (apostréfo) is used mainly of turning one's face or gaze away in contempt or refusal.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for turning men back or to flight, and the Odyssey for turning a ship back and twisting a man's limbs behind him.^[4][5]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it for turning one's neck away.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for putting ships to flight, and Thucydides for sending troops home.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses the passive for turning away from someone in rejection.^[6][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for turning an argument into its opposite.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for turning one's ear away from the truth and for misleading the people.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for directing and for sending away.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned αποστρέφω (apostréfo) means turning one's face or gaze away.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn back, send back, cause to return.^[5][6][4]
2. To turn to flight, rout.^[5][6]
3. To twist back (the limbs, the neck); to twist.^[5][6]
4. To turn away, avert (the face, a danger); to divert (a river, a war).^[6][5]
5. To dissuade, hold someone back from something.^[6]
6. To refute, turn an argument round.^[6]
7. (middle and passive) To turn away from, reject, spurn.^[6][5]
8. (New Testament) To turn someone away, mislead.^[7][6]

Word family

• ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ)
• ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos)

Related words

• στρέφω (stréphō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d 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 Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki