Etymologically
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ἡγέομαι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /hɛː.ɡé.o.mai̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /iˈʝe.o.mɛ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /iˈʝe.o.me/[1]

Forms

ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai) [1] Doric Greek ἁγέομαι (hāgéomai).[2][3]

Etymology

Beekes takes it to be an iterative present, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to track, seek out”), from which all its other forms were made.[2] LIV gives it with a query.[2][4][1] It corresponds to the presents Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly, track down”) and the Gothic word for “to seek” (English seek); Hittite šāgāi- (“sign, omen”) belongs here as well.[2][4][1] The root may come from the language of hunters, with the original sense “to track down”.[2] Other scholars have explained it as an intensive form of ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad the seer Calchas is said to have guided the Achaean ships to Troy.[5][6] In Homer it means to show the way, to take the lead, and to lead men in war.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

After Homer the verb also means “to believe, hold, consider”, often in Herodotus in the perfect.[2][7] Its many compounds include ἐξηγέομαι (exēgéomai, “to expound”) and διηγέομαι (diēgéomai, “to narrate”), and its derivatives ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn, “leader”), with ἡγεμονία (hēgemoníā).[2]

In the New Testament the present participle, ὁ ἡγούμενος, names men in leading positions, as in Polybius and the inscriptions, and the verb is common in the sense “to consider, regard”.[8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of guiding ships and leading troops.[5][6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it in the sense “believe, hold”.[7][9]
  • 5th century BC – Aeschylus and Sophocles use it of ruling.[3][9]
  • 2nd century BC – Polybius often uses the participle for leaders.[8][9]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses the participle for church leaders and the verb for “consider”.[8][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lead the way, act as a guide.[3][5]
  2. To take the lead in an action, a dance or a song.[3]
  3. To lead troops; to be in command.[3]
  4. To be in power, rule.[3]
  5. To believe, hold, consider.[7][8]

Word family

  • ἀνηγέομαι (anēgéomai)
  • ἀρχηγός (arkhēgós)
  • ἀφηγέομαι (aphēgéomai)
  • διηγέομαι (diēgéomai)
  • εἰσηγέομαι (eisēgéomai)
  • ἐξηγέομαι (exēgéomai)
  • ἐφηγέομαι (ephēgéomai)
  • ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn)
  • ἡγήτωρ (hēgḗtōr)
  • καθηγέομαι (kathēgéomai)
  • περιηγέομαι (periēgéomai)
  • προηγέομαι (proēgéomai)
  • ὑφηγέομαι (huphēgéomai)
  • χορηγός (khorēgós)
  • ἡγεσία (hēgesía)
  • ἡγέτης (hēgétēs)
  • ἡγητήρ (hēgētḗr)
  • ἡγητής (hēgētḗs)
  • -ηγός (-ēgós)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  5. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d 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
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge