Etymologically
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ὀρχέομαι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /or.kʰé.o.mai̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /orˈçe.o.mɛ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /orˈçe.o.me/[1]

Forms

ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai) [1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] The LIV takes it as an iterative formation, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁orǵʰ-éye-, from the root *h₁erǵʰ- (“to mount, climb”), and Frisk likewise sees in it an iterative-intensive verb beside the primary ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “to come, go”).[3][4] Chantraine finds this unconvincing in both form and meaning.[2] In inscriptions the verb often means “to mount”, which matches Hittite arkatta (“mounts (sexually)”), but the LIV notes that the development of the meanings is unclear in detail.[2][3][1] Watkins also connected ὄρχις (órkhis, “testicle”), which Beekes doubts in view of that word's own reconstruction.[2][3] Wiktionary mentions an alternative root, Proto-Indo-European *h₃erǵʰ- (“to copulate”), compared with Proto-Germanic *argaz (“lewd”).[1]

Ancient writers derived it from ὀρέγω (orégō, “to stretch out”) and χείρ (kheír, “hand”), from the stretching out of the hands, or from the rows in which dancers stood.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning “to dance”: in the Iliad young men and girls dance (18.594), and in the Odyssey Halius and Laodamas are told to dance on their own (8.371).[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod, the lyric poets and Herodotus use it in the same sense, and Herodotus and Xenophon add an accusative for the style of dance.[8][7] Figuratively the heart “dances” with fear in Aeschylus, and in Callimachus a whole land shakes, while Theocritus uses it of calves frisking.[7][8] Lucian uses it for acting a story out in pantomime, “dancing” the Cronus who swallowed his children or the madness of Ajax.[7] The active, “to make dance”, is rare: the tragic poet Ion says a surprise made his heart leap.[7]

Its derivatives include ὀρχηστής (orkhēstḗs, “dancer”) and ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstrā, “dancing place”), the circle where the chorus danced, used by Plato and Aristotle.[2][4] The Septuagint has it in 2 Samuel 6, and in the Gospels it is used of the daughter of Herodias dancing before the guests and of children at play who complain “we piped for you and you did not dance”.[9][10] Modern Greek keeps it as the learned ορχούμαι (orchoúmai, “to dance”).[11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for dancing.[6][7]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony.[8][12][13]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus says a heart dances with fear.[7][8][13]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it with an accusative naming the dance.[8][7][13]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of calves frisking, and Callimachus of a land shaking.[8][7][13]
  • 1st century AD – The Gospels use it of the dancing of Herodias' daughter and of children at play.[10]
  • 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it for acting a story out in pantomime.[7][13]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as the learned word ορχούμαι (orchoúmai), “to dance”.[11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dance; with an accusative, to dance a particular dance.[7][8][10]
  2. To act out by dancing, represent in pantomime.[7]
  3. (figurative) To leap or throb, of the heart; to shake, of the ground.[7][8]
  4. Of young animals, to skip, frisk.[8]
  5. (active) To make someone dance; to make the heart leap.[7]

Word family

  • ἀνορχέομαι (anorkhéomai)
  • ἀπορχέομαι (aporkhéomai)
  • διορχέομαι (diorkhéomai)
  • ἐξορχέομαι (exorkhéomai)
  • ἐπορχέομαι (eporkhéomai)
  • κατορχέομαι (katorkhéomai)
  • περιορχέομαι (periorkhéomai)
  • ὑπορχέομαι (huporkhéomai)
  • ἀντορχέομαι (antorkhéomai)
  • παρορχέομαι (parorkhéomai)
  • προσορχέομαι (prosorkhéomai)
  • συνορχέομαι (sunorkhéomai)
  • ὀρχηθμός (orkhēthmós)
  • ὄρχημα (órkhēma)
  • ὄρχησις (órkhēsis)
  • ὀρχηστήρ (orkhēstḗr)
  • ὀρχηστής (orkhēstḗs)
  • ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstrā)
  • English orchestra

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  13. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge