ἐξάγω

Forms

ἐξάγω (exágō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐκ- (ek-, “out”) + ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it to lead out persons from a place: from a house, a city or a crowd, and a wounded man out of battle.^[3][4] In the Iliad the goddess of childbirth brings a child forth into the light.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Classical prose used it for a commander leading out troops, for leading someone out to execution, and for drawing off or diverting water.^[4][3] It also meant taking things out of a place, and specifically to export goods, a sense found in Herodotus, Aristophanes and Xenophon.^[4] Figuratively it meant to lead astray or carry away by emotion, and in the legal language of Isaeus and Demosthenes to eject someone from a property.^[4]

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for leading people out of a country, as out of Egypt.^[5] Modern Greek Εξάγω (exágo) in Modern Greek is a learned continuation used for exporting, with the derivative εξαγωγή (exagogí) from ancient ἐξαγωγή (exagōgḗ).^[6][2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and Odyssey use it for leading persons out.^[3][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for exporting goods and for diverting a river.^[4]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for leading troops out.^[4]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for ejecting a claimant from a property.^[4]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles uses it for leading people out of Egypt.^[5]
• Modern Greek – εξάγω (exágo) means to export.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lead out or bring forth a person from a place.^[3][4]
2. Of a commander, to lead out troops,^[4] (intransitive) to march out.^[4]
3. To lead out to execution.^[4]
4. To take out, remove; to export goods.^[4]
5. To draw off or divert water.^[4]
6. To extend a mound or wall.^[4]
7. To call forth tears or laughter.^[4]
8. To lead on or astray, carry away.^[4]
9. (law) To eject someone from a property.^[4]

Word family

• ἐξαγωγή (exagōgḗ)

Related words

• ἄγω (ágō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki