ὀργανίζω

Forms

ὀργᾰνίζω (organízō); aorist ὠργάνισα.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “instrument, tool, organ”), with the verbal suffix -ίζω (-ízō).^[1][2] Beekes and Frisk treat the simple verb as unattested, listing only the compounds διοργανίζω (diorganízō) and κατοργανίζω (katorganízō) from the Greek Anthology and the alchemists, beside ὀργανόω (organóō, “to organize, furnish with organs”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bailly cites the Hippocratic corpus for the sense “furnish with organs”, but Pape gives the passage as the same as ὀργανόω (organóō) and doubtful.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The only other record is a Byzantine gloss: the Suda explains ηὔλησα (ēúlēsa, “I played the pipe”) by the aorist ὠργάνισα, “I played an instrument”, and Zonaras has a similar gloss.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic corpus may use it of furnishing with organs, though Pape doubts the reading.^[1][5][7]
• 10th century AD – The Suda glosses “I played the pipe” with its aorist.^[6][2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To furnish with organs.^[1][5]
2. (Byzantine) To play a musical instrument.^[2][6]

Related words

• ὄργανον (órganon)
• ὀργανόω (organóō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
2. ^ a b c d e Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
3. ^ 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. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
6. ^ a b c Adler, Ada, ed. (1928–1938), Suidae Lexicon, 5 vols, Leipzig: Teubner
7. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge