ἀρόω
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /a.ró.ɔː/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /aˈro.o/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /aˈro.o/[1]
Forms
ᾰ̓ρόω (aróō) [1] Epic infinitive ἀρώμεναι (arṓmenai) (Hesiod); Ionic perfect passive participle ἀρηρομένος (arēroménos).[2][3]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃-ye- (“to plough”), an old present with the suffix /-ye-/ from the root *h₂erh₃-.[4][1][5] The /o/ of the second syllable reflects the root's last laryngeal.[4][6] Doric forms with /a/, such as Cretan ἄρατρον (áratron, “plough”), are probably due to the influence of ἀράω (aráō), according to Beekes;[4] Chantraine finds the /a/ unexplained.[4][6]
Cognate with Latin arō, Middle Irish airim, Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (arjan), Lithuanian árti and Old Church Slavonic орати (orati), all meaning “to plough”.[4][1][6] The instrument noun ἄροτρον (árotron, “plough”) matches arātrum and Old Armenian արաւր (arawr).[4][1] If Hittite ḫarra- (“to grind, crush”) is related, ploughing was first “breaking the soil”.[4]
Ancient writers derived it from Ἄρης (Árēs), because the soil is cut with iron.[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad it describes ploughed land on the shield of Achilles, and in the Odyssey the Cyclopes, who neither plant nor plough.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
Pindar uses it figuratively of the Muses preparing the ground for a poet, and Aeschylus of the sea ploughed by ships.[2][3] Plato uses it for sowing seed in a garden.[2][3]
Poets also used it of a man begetting children: Theognis speaks of ploughing another man's field, and Sophocles' Oedipus is said to have ploughed the mother who bore him; in the passive, Oedipus says he was “sown” in her.[2][3]
Its derivatives include ἄροτρον (árotron, “plough”), ἀροτήρ (arotḗr, “ploughman”) and ἄρουρα (ároura, “tilled land”).[4]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for ploughing.[2][3]
- Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Works and Days.[2][8]
- 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of a man begetting children.[2][3][8]
- 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of the Muses, and Aeschylus of the sea ploughed by ships.[2][3][8]
- 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of Oedipus begetting his children.[2][3][8]
- 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for sowing seed.[2][3][8]
Meanings
Verb
- To plough, till; in the passive, of land, to be ploughed.[2][3]
- (figurative) Of the Muses, to prepare the ground for a poet; of ships, to plough the sea.[2][3]
- To sow seed.[2][3]
- (figurative) Of a man, to beget children by a woman; in the passive, to be begotten.[2][3]
Word family
- ἄροσις (árosis)
- ἀροτήρ (arotḗr)
- ἀρότης (arótēs)
- ἄροτος (árotos)
- ἀροτρεύς (arotreús)
- ἄροτρον (árotron)
- ἄρουρα (ároura)
- ἀροσμός (arosmós)
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
- ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge