Etymologically
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ἕζομαι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /héz.do.mai̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈe.zo.mɛ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈe.zo.me/[1]

Forms

ἕζομαι (hézomai) [1] Doric ἕσδομαι (Theocritus).[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *séd-ye-, a present with the suffix *-ye- of the root *sed- (“to sit”).[1][3] The same present is found in Germanic: Old English sittan, Old Norse sitja, Old Saxon sittian and Old High German sizzen.[3][1] The related ἵζω (hízō) comes from a reduplicated present *si-sd-e/o- and matches Latin sīdō (“to sit down”).[3]

In Homer the past forms are often aorists and may come from a reduplicated aorist *se-sd-.[3][4] As the perfect of both verbs, Greek uses ἧμαι (hêmai) and κάθημαι (káthēmai).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning to sit down; its first passage in the GLAUx corpus is Iliad 1.48.[5][3] In the Iliad it is also used of crouching to avoid a weapon and of a wounded warrior sinking to the ground.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Homer the present itself is rare, and the forms in use are mostly aorists.[4][3] In later Greek the compound καθέζομαι (kathézomai) is more usual.[3] Mimnermus uses it of settling in a city, and Aeschylus of a goddess taking possession of an oracle.[2] The nouns of the root, such as ἕδος (hédos, “seat”) and ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”), developed largely apart from the verb.[3]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for sitting down and crouching.[5][2]
  • 6th century BC – Mimnermus uses it of settling in a city.[2][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a goddess occupying an oracle.[2][6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles use it for sitting.[2][6]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses the Doric form ἕσδομαι.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To seat oneself, sit down; to sit on (a rowing bench).[2][4]
  2. To crouch down (to avoid a weapon or hide); (of a wounded warrior) to sink to the ground.[2]
  3. To settle in a place; to occupy (an oracle).[2]

Word family

  • καθέζομαι (kathézomai)
  • ἕδος (hédos)
  • ἕδρα (hédra)

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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge