ἐρύω

Forms

ἐρύω (erúō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is an old verb that began with a digamma: Doric ϝερύω (werúō), the epic compound αὐερύω (auerúō) from *ἀϝϝερύω (*awwerúō), and the perfect εἴρυμαι (eírumai) from *ϝέ-ϝρῡ-μαι (*wéwrūmai).^[2][3][4] Beekes traces it, with a question mark, to Proto-Indo-European *weru- (“to draw”), but finds no certain cognate outside Greek.^[2] Wiktionary reports two proposals: *h₁rewH- (“to tear, dig”), with Latin rudēns (“ship's rope”), and, following the LIV, *wer- (“to ward off”).^[1] Beekes and Frisk call the Latin comparison doubtful.^[2][3]

From the stem ῥυ- (rhu-) come several old nouns of pulling: ῥυτήρ (rhutḗr, “rein, rope”), ῥυμός (rhumós, “pole of a carriage”), ῥύμη (rhúmē, “rush, force”) and ῥύσιον (rhúsion, “pledge”), properly “what is dragged away”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it means to drag or haul: Agamemnon orders a ship drawn down into the sea, and warriors drag the bodies of the fallen.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Epic poetry uses it for hauling ships into the sea or up on the shore, for drawing a sword or a bow, for tearing down battlements, and for the dogs and birds that drag and tear a corpse.^[7][4] The middle meant to draw for oneself: to rescue a comrade's body from the fight, to draw a man out of the press of battle, and, of captives, to weigh against gold and so to ransom.^[4] Herodotus uses the Ionic aorist εἴρυσα where Attic would use the aorist of ἕλκω (hélkō).^[4]

Outside poetry it is rare: Hippocratic writers use it of the body drawing in and retaining food or seed, and of limbs drawn back in convulsions.^[4] Late epic poets such as Nonnus still used it.^[4][5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of drawing ships to the sea and dragging bodies.^[5][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days uses it of drawing a ship ashore.^[5][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses its aorist for “to drag, haul”.^[4][8]
• 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it of the body retaining food and of convulsions.^[4][8]
• 4th–5th century AD – Nonnus uses the future ἐρύσσω.^[4][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drag, draw, pull; to haul a ship into the sea or ashore.^[4][9]
2. To tear away, of dogs and birds of prey with a corpse, or of battlements.^[7][4]
3. (middle) To draw towards oneself; to draw a sword.^[4][10]
4. (middle) To drag a body or a comrade out of battle; of captives, to weigh against gold, ransom.^[4]
5. (medicine) To draw in and retain food or seed; in the passive, to be drawn back, of convulsions.^[4]

Usage notes

LSJ heads a second ἐρύω, used only in the middle ἔρυμαι (érumai) and ῥύομαι (rhúomai), meaning to protect, guard and rescue.^[4] Cunliffe derives it from a stem *σερυ- and compares Latin servō (“to keep, save”).^[6] The Chæréphon lexicon cites a Mycenaean third person plural Mycenaean Greek o-u-ru-to for it.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
11. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica