ἐμέω

Forms

ἐμέω (eméō) ^[1]

Etymology

It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wémh₁ti, the present of the root Proto-Indo-European *wemh₁- (“to vomit”), through an earlier Greek *ϝεμέω (*weméō) that had turned into a thematic verb.^[1][2][3] Cognate with Sanskrit वमति (vamati, “vomits”), Latin vomō (“to vomit”) and Lithuanian vémti (“to vomit”).^[3][1][4] In Sanskrit the old athematic present survives, and the Latin forms with -i- were later taken as thematic.^[3] The root is also found in North Germanic, but only in a figurative sense, as in Old Swedish vami (“disgust”).^[3]

Homer shows no trace of the initial /w/ in this verb.^[3] Schwyzer took that as a sign that ἐμέω was a word of everyday speech; the DGE suggests the /w/ may have been lost by dissimilation next to the labial /m/.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Iliad, where Hector lies wounded, vomiting blood.^[6][4][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is the ordinary verb for vomiting: Herodotus uses it both with an object and on its own, Aeschylus has the Furies throw up clots of blood, and in Aristophanes a character makes himself sick with a feather.^[4][8] The Hippocratic writers use it often in medicine.^[4]

In Revelation the lukewarm church of Laodicea is threatened with being spat out of the mouth like undrinkable water.^[9] Eunapius used it of someone pouring out a flood of words.^[4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of Hector vomiting blood.^[6][4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus has the Furies vomit clots of blood.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for “be sick” without an object.^[4][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – In Aristophanes, someone makes himself sick with a feather.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – In Revelation it is used figuratively, of spitting someone out of one's mouth.^[9]
• 4th–5th century AD – Eunapius uses it of pouring out words.^[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To vomit, throw up: with an object (blood, poison, bile) or without one.^[8][4]
2. (New Testament) To spit someone out of one's mouth, as undrinkable water.^[9]
3. (figurative) To pour out a flood of words.^[4]

Related words

• Latin vomō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c 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