ἐλέγχω

Forms

ἐλέγχω (elénkhō) ^[1]

Etymology

The origin is not certain.^[2][3][4] Beekes reports the view, now mostly accepted, that it is related to Hittite li(n)k- (“to swear”) and Old High German antlingen (“to answer”), and Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʰ- (“to accuse, scold”).^[5][1] The LIV lists a root of the same shape meaning “to assure finally”.^[6]

An older comparison with ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small”) fits the meaning well, since “to make small” can become “to disgrace”, as in German, and Chantraine and Frisk find it semantically possible.^[2][3][5] But that adjective had a labiovelar, so ἐλέγχω would have to owe its /kh/ to that word, which Beekes thinks unlikely.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to disgrace or put to shame: Phoenix asks Achilles not to treat the envoys' words with contempt in the Iliad (9.522), and in the Odyssey (21.424) Odysseus' bow did not shame him.^[7][8][9] LSJ notes that this sense is only epic.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From “put to shame” the verb came to mean to show someone up, and in Pindar to outdo rivals.^[8][7] In Herodotus, tragedy and Attic prose it is the verb of questioning: to cross-examine a witness, to test a claim or a person, to prove, and to refute.^[7][8] It is the verb of Socrates' method of refutation in Plato, and Aristotle uses it of logical refutation.^[7][8]

In the Septuagint it mostly means to reprove or rebuke, and in the New Testament it means to expose, to convict someone of wrongdoing, to reprove, and to discipline.^[10][11]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept the verb, with by-forms ελέχω and ’λέχω.^[12] The learned Modern Greek ελέγχω (elégcho) is a word meaning to check or verify, and also to restrain or control, partly after the senses of the noun Modern Greek έλεγχος (élegchos).^[13]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for “to put to shame”.^[7][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of outdoing rivals.^[7][8][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles use it for “to cross-examine”.^[7][8][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for “to refute” an argument or a speaker.^[7][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of logical refutation.^[7][4]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for “to expose” and “to convict” of wrongdoing.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned verb means “to check” and “to control”.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. (epic) To put to shame, disgrace; to treat with contempt.^[7][8]
2. To cross-examine, question.^[7][8]
3. To test, put to the proof.^[7][8]
4. To prove; to bring convincing proof.^[7]
5. To refute, confute.^[7][8]
6. To get the better of, outdo.^[7][8]
7. To expose, show up.^[7][11]
8. (Septuagint, New Testament) To convict of wrongdoing; to reprove, rebuke; to discipline.^[11][10]

Word family

• ἀνεξέλεγκτος (anexélenktos)
• ἔλεγχος (élenkhos)

Related words

• ἐξελέγχω (exelénkhō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki