ἔχω

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /é.kʰɔː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈe.xo/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈe.xo/^[1]

Forms

ἔχω (ékhō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hékʰō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *séǵʰeti, a thematic present of the root Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to overpower, get hold of”).^[1][2][3] Mycenaean has Mycenaean Greek e-ke, “has”.^[3][2] The reduplicated present ἴσχω (ískhō) comes from ⟨*σί-σχ-ω⟩, and the aorist ἔσχον (éskhon) has the zero grade of the root.^[3][4]

The exact cognate is Sanskrit सहते (sáhate, “overpowers, conquers”); the root is also in Germanic and Celtic words for victory and strength, such as Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍃 (sigis) and Gaulish names in ⟨Sego-⟩.^[3][4] In Greek the meaning developed strongly from “get hold of” to “hold, have”.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets have e-ke.^[3][2] In Homer it already covers holding in the hands, possessing, keeping and wearing, and intransitive uses such as “to hold firm”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Its uses are many: to hold by physical contact, to have in one's possession, to keep, to wear clothes or arms, to inhabit a place, to hold a course, to hold back or check.^[6][1][7] With an infinitive it means “to be able” and later also “to have to”; with an adverb, used intransitively, it expresses a state, as εὖ ἔχω “I am well”.^[1][7] In the middle it means to cling to, to be next to (ὁ ἐχόμενος “the next”), to depend on or pertain to, and to keep oneself from something.^[1][8]

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for owning, having children, holding opinions and being in a certain condition.^[8][9] Medieval Greek kept it in all its senses, and it survives as έχω (écho) “to have”, also in Italiot Greek and Mariupol Greek.^[10][11][1] Its zero grade is the base of σχῆμα (skhêma, “form”) and σχολή (skholḗ, “leisure”), and its full grade of ἕξις (héxis, “state, habit”).^[3][1]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The tablets have e-ke.^[3][2]
• Homer – It is used for holding, having, keeping and wearing.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Prose writers use it with an adverb to express a state, “to be in a certain condition”.^[7][1]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses the middle participle for “next”.^[8]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for owning and having.^[9]
• 12th–17th century – Vernacular Greek uses it as the general verb “to have”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold, have in one's hands; to grip.^[6][1]
2. To have, possess, own; to keep, have charge of.^[1][9]
3. To bear, wear arms or clothes, or (of a woman) to be pregnant.^[1][7]
4. To inhabit a place.^[1][6]
5. To hold a course, steer; to hold back, check.^[1][6]
6. To understand, know.^[1][8]
7. (with infinitive) To be able; later, to have to.^[1][8]
8. (intransitive, with an adverb) To be in a certain state: εὖ ἔχειν, to be well.^[1][7]
9. (middle) To cling to; to be next to; to depend on, pertain to.^[1][8]
10. (middle) To keep oneself from, abstain.^[1]

Word family

• ἀμπέχω (ampékhō)
• ἀνέχω (anékhō)
• ἀντέχω (antékhō)
• ἀπέχω (apékhō)
• εἰσέχω (eisékhō)
• ἐνέχω (enékhō)
• ἐξέχω (exékhō)
• ἐπέχω (epékhō)
• ἑστιοῦχος (hestioûkhos)
• εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos)
• ἐχέγγυος (ekhénguos)
• ἐχεπευκής (ekhepeukḗs)
• ἐχέφρων (ekhéphrōn)
• κατέχω (katékhō)

Related words

• ἄσχετος (áskhetos)
• ἔγμα (égma)
• ἑκτέος (hektéos)
• ἑκτικός (hektikós)
• Ἕκτωρ (Héktōr)
• ἕξις (héxis)
• ἐχέτης (ekhétēs)
• ἐχέτλη (ekhétlē)
• ἔχης (ékhēs)
• ἔχησις (ékhēsis)
• ἴσχω (ískhō)
• σχῆμα (skhêma)
• σχολή (skholḗ)

Usage notes

A second, unrelated verb ἔχω “to carry, bring” is found only in Pamphylian ϝεχέτω and a Cypriot aorist ἔϝεξε; it continues Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to transport”), like Latin vehō, and is related to ὄχος (ókhos, “chariot”).^[3][4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki