ἔρδω

Forms

ἔρδω (érdō); future ἔρξω, aorist ἔρξα, perfect ἔοργα, pluperfect ἐώργει; iterative imperfect ἔρδεσκον^[2][3] The Mycenaean form wo-ze continues the zero grade.^[4][5] Cypriot aorist ἔϝερξα (éwerxa) and Cretan βέρδηι (bérdēi) keep the digamma.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wérďō,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵ-ye-, a yod-present from the root *werǵ- (“to work, do”), the root of ἔργον (érgon, “work”) and of ῥέζω (rhézō).^[1][4][5] Beekes and Frisk explain the present through a stage with /zd/ from /gj/; it differs only in its full grade from the zero-grade presents of Avestan vərəziieiti and Gothic, and the full grade was probably taken from that noun.^[4][6] The zero grade itself survives in Mycenaean Greek wo-ze, and the perfect ἔοργα (éorga) has the regular o-grade.^[4][5] The aspirated spelling ἕρδω (hérdō) in the manuscripts is secondary.^[4][3]

Wiktionary compares Albanian vërdhoj (“to work without resting”).^[1] The Etymologicum Magnum derived the verb from that other verb by transposing its sounds.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mycenaean tablets have Mycenaean Greek wo-ze “carries out”.^[4][5] In Homer it means to do or act, to do something to someone, and to offer a sacrifice, as in “we offered perfect hecatombs to the immortals”.^[3][8][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb belongs to poetry and Ionic: Hesiod, the elegists and lyric poets, Herodotus and the tragedians use it, while prose uses ποιέω (poiéō), πράσσω (prássō) or ἐργάζομαι (ergázomai) instead.^[4][3][2] Pindar sets doing against suffering, Herodotus uses it of performing sacrifices, and Theocritus of making drugs.^[3][2] The Gortyn law code from Crete has the aorist with the digamma, and the verb is still found in the late Ionic prose of Aretaeus.^[3] From it come ἔργμα (érgma) “deed” and ἕρκτωρ (hérktōr) “doer”.^[4][6] The New Pauly connects ὄργια (órgia) “rites” with the same root.^[9]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The tablets have Mycenaean Greek wo-ze, “carries out”, with the zero grade of the root.^[4][5]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for doing deeds and for offering hecatombs to the gods.^[3][8][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of sacrificing at altars.^[3][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar contrasts doing and suffering.^[3][2][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of performing sacrifices.^[3][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes quotes the line “let each man practise the craft he knows”.^[3][11][10]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of making drugs.^[3][2][10]
• 2nd century AD – Aretaeus still uses it in Ionic prose.^[3][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To act, do, often opposed to suffering.^[3][2]
2. To do, perform, accomplish (deeds, good or bad).^[3][2][8]
3. With two accusatives: to do (something) to someone; with an adverb, to treat (someone) well or badly.^[3][2]
4. To practise (a craft); to make (drugs).^[3][2]
5. To sacrifice, offer (victims, hecatombs); intransitive, to make a sacrifice.^[3][2]

Word family

• ἔργμα (érgma)
• ἕρκτωρ (hérktōr)

Related words

• ἔργον (érgon)
• ῥέζω (rhézō)
• ὄργια (órgia)

Usage notes

Aristophanes has the proverbial line ἔρδοι τις ἣν ἕκαστος εἰδείη τέχνην, “let each man practise the craft he knows”.^[3][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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 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 d e Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.