ἔτλην

Forms

ἔτλην (étlēn) ^[1] Aorist only: infinitive τλῆναι (tlênai), Epic τλήμεναι (tlḗmenai); imperative τλῆθι (tlêthi); participle τλάς (tlás); Epic τλῆν (tlên), Doric ἔτλᾱν (étlān); 3rd person plural ἔτλησαν (étlēsan), Epic ἔτλαν (étlan).^[2][3] The verb has no present; it has the future τλήσομαι (tlḗsomai), Aeolic and Doric τλᾱ́σομαι (tlā́somai), the perfect τέτληκα (tétlēka), whose short Epic forms such as τέτλαμεν (tétlamen) have present sense, and the Epic first aorist ἐτάλασσα (etálassa).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a root aorist, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to take upon oneself, endure”),^[4][5] whose zero grade *tl̥h₂- gave Greek τλᾱ- (tlā-), Ionic-Attic τλη- (tlē-).^[5][4] The Epic aorist ἐτάλασσα (etálassa) has a secondary two-syllable zero grade, while the Hesychius gloss τελάσσαι (telássai) probably keeps the old full grade.^[5] The stem τλη- spread to every other tense, and the infinitive τλῆναι (tlênai) may have replaced an older form after στῆναι (stênai).^[5][6]

The same root is found in Latin lātus (“carried”), from *tlā-tos, which matches the Greek verbal adjective τλητός (tlētós), in the Latin perfect tetulī, and in Old English þolian and Old High German dolēn 'to tolerate'.^[5][4] Wiktionary also compares tolerō (“to endure”).^[1] In Greek the meaning narrowed to 'tolerate, endure', while ἀείρω (aeírō) took the sense 'lift, support'.^[5] τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, talent”), τάλας (tálās, “wretched”) and τόλμα (tólma, “daring”) come from the same root.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it often, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, for holding out and being patient, for suffering and submitting to evils, and for bringing oneself to do something against one's feelings, that is, daring.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic verb, frequent in Homer, lyric and tragedy.^[3][2] Doric ἔτλᾱν appears in the lyrics of Aeschylus and Sophocles.^[3][2] LSJ notes that it is never used, like φέρω (phérō), of carrying bodily loads.^[3] Isocrates and Xenophon use it in prose, but the ordinary prose verb is τολμάω (tolmáō).^[3] With an accusative it means to dare a deed in Theocritus.^[2] A present τλάω is found only in very late writers such as Tzetzes.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for enduring and for daring.^[7][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for having the heart to do something.^[2][8]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho has the Aeolic future τλᾱ́σομαι (tlā́somai).^[3][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the Doric form in lyric.^[3][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates and Xenophon use it in prose.^[3][8]
• 12th century AD – Tzetzes uses a present form.^[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold out, endure, be patient.^[2][3]
2. To suffer, undergo, submit to evils, toils or battles.^[2][3]
3. To bring oneself to act against one's own feelings; to bear to do something.^[2]
4. To have the heart or the nerve to do something; to dare a reckless deed.^[2][1]

Word family

• ταλαύρινος (talaúrīnos)

Related words

• τάλαντον (tálanton)
• τάλας (tálās)
• τόλμα (tólma)
• τολμάω (tolmáō)
• τλήμων (tlḗmōn)
• Latin tolerō

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 m 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge