ἐρωτάω

Forms

ἐρωτᾰ́ω (erōtáō) ^[1] Epic and Ionic εἰρωτάω; in Attic it supplies the missing tenses of ἔρομαι (éromai).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a secondary present of the root of εἴρομαι (eíromai, “to ask”): Ionic εἰρωτάω (eirōtáō) and the Attic form go back to *ἐρϝωτάω (*erwōtáō), which replaced the older verb, especially in Attic.^[4][1] Vine explains the formation from *h₁rów-o- (“questioning, inquiry”), through an agent noun *ἐρϝωτᾱ- (*erwōtā-).^[4] ἐρεείνω (ereeínō, “to ask”) and ἐρευνάω (ereunáō, “to search”) are other presents of the same root.^[4][1]

The root, reconstructed as Proto-Indo-European *h₁rew- (“to search, inquire”), is uncertain; it may be related to Icelandic raun (“trial, test”) and Old Armenian որոնեմ (oronem, “to seek”), though the Armenian has phonetic problems.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Odyssey first has it, as εἰρωτάω, “to ask” someone something.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is the usual verb for asking a question and questioning someone, with an indirect or direct question; the passive participle names the question asked.^[3][2] From the Hellenistic period on it also means to request or beg, the sense of many papyrus letters and of the New Testament, where it stands beside “to ask a question”.^[4][6]

Medieval Greek dropped the unstressed first vowel, giving the everyday Modern Greek ρωτώ (rotó), “to ask”; ερωτώ (erotó) is the learned form.^[7][8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses εἰρωτάω for asking someone something.^[2][5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses ἐρωτάω, the Attic form.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses the passive participle for the question asked.^[2][3][9]
• 2nd century BC – Inscriptions use it in the sense “to request”.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it both for asking a question and for making a request.^[6]
• Middle Ages – The form ρωτώ appears, without the first vowel.^[7][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask, inquire; to ask someone something, with a direct or indirect question.^[2][3]
2. To question someone; passive, to be questioned or asked.^[3][2]
3. To ask about something.^[2][3]
4. (Koine) To request, beg, ask for something.^[6][4]

Word family

• ἐπερώτησις (eperṓtēsis)
• ἐρώτημα (erṓtēma)
• ἐρώτησις (erṓtēsis)
• ἐρωτητικός (erōtētikós)
• ἐρωτηματικός (erōtēmatikós)

Related words

• εἴρομαι (eíromai)
• ἐρεείνω (ereeínō)
• ἐρευνάω (ereunáō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge