Etymologically
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ἁρμόζω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /har.móz.dɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /arˈmo.zo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /arˈmo.zo/[1]

Forms

ἁρμόζω (harmózō) [1] Attic ἁρμόττω, Doric ἁρμόσδω (Theocritus).[2] Mycenaean Greek a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint”) + -ζω (-zō), a denominative verb.[4][5][6] Ruijgh, followed by Beekes, takes the immediate base to be ἁρμότας (harmótas), a derivative of the same noun.[4] The DGE instead derives it from ἅρμα (hárma) or from the noun written Mycenaean Greek a-mo in Linear B, on a stem in a dental or velar, and regards the rough breathing as secondary.[3] The root is Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A participle of the verb is already found on Mycenaean tablets, Mycenaean Greek a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na.[3] In Homer it means to join planks together in building a boat, and, intransitively, of armour, to fit the wearer.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From joining materials the verb was extended to fitting and adapting in general: Solon speaks of awarding each man his due, and Pindar and Herodotus use it of betrothing a bride.[2] It also meant to set in order or govern (Pindar, Sophocles), and in Sparta to serve as a ἁρμοστής (harmostḗs), a governor of a subject city (Xenophon).[2] In music it was to tune an instrument (Plato).[2] Intransitively it meant to suit, and the impersonal “it is fitting” is common from Sophocles on.[2] Babiniotis notes that this impersonal use is already ancient, and that the sense “to govern” appears from the 6th century BC.[6]

In the New Testament Paul uses the middle, unusually, for the active “betroth”: he has betrothed the Corinthians to one husband (2 Corinthians 11:2).[7] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the verb, and Modern Greek has the learned αρμόζω (armózo), to be fitting or suitable.[8][9]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean – The tablets have the participle Mycenaean Greek a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na.[3]
  • Homer – The Odyssey uses it for joining planks, the Iliad for armour that fits.[5][2]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it for awarding each his due.[2][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for betrothing.[2][3]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for tuning an instrument.[2][3]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for the office of a Spartan harmost.[2][3]
  • 1st century AD – Paul uses the middle for betrothing the Corinthian church.[7]
  • Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek αρμόζω (armózo) means to be suitable.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To join or fit together; to build a ship.[2][5]
  2. To adapt, accommodate; to award what is due.[2]
  3. To betroth; in the middle, to take as a wife.[2][7]
  4. To bind fast.[2]
  5. To set in order, govern; at Sparta, to act as harmost.[2]
  6. (music) To tune an instrument.[2]
  7. Intransitive: to fit, of clothes or armour; to suit; impersonally, it is fitting.[2][7]
  8. (mathematics) To coincide with, correspond.[2]

Word family

  • διαρμόζω (diarmózō)
  • ἐναρμόζω (enarmózō)
  • ἐφαρμόζω (epharmózō)
  • καθαρμόζω (katharmózō)
  • μεθαρμόζω (metharmózō)
  • περιαρμόζω (periarmózō)
  • προσαρμόζω (prosarmózō)
  • συναρμόζω (sunarmózō)
  • ἀφαρμόζω (apharmózō)
  • ἐξαρμόζω (exarmózō)
  • προαρμόζω (proarmózō)
  • ὑφαρμόζω (hupharmózō)
  • ἁρμογή (harmogḗ)
  • ἁρμόδιος (harmódios)
  • ἁρμονία (harmoníā)
  • ἁρμοστής (harmostḗs)
  • ἁρμοστός (harmostós)
  • ἁρμόστωρ (harmóstōr)
  • ἁρμός (harmós)

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 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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  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. ^ 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