ὀρύσσω

Forms

ὀρῠ́σσω (orússō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- (“to dig up, grub”),^[1][2] a root that Beekes accepts only with a question mark.^[3] All the forms of the verb and its nouns rest on a stem ὀρυχ- (orukh-), and the voiced ὀρυγ- (orug-) and the late present ὀρύχω (orúkhō) are secondary.^[3] Beekes derives the present from *h₃rugʰ-ye/o-, but since the cognates point to a root ending in /k/, he takes the aspirate, found only in Greek, to be analogical.^[3] The final /k/ may itself be an extension of a root *h₃rew-, perhaps also found in οὐροί (ouroí, “trench”).^[3] Babiniotis calls the initial ⟨ὀ⟩ prothetic.^[4]

Cognate with Latin runcō (“to weed out, root up”), Latvian rūkēt (“to dig, scrape”) and Albanian rrah (“excavation, reclaimed land”).^[3][1] A connection with ὅρος (hóros, “boundary”) is ruled out by the Mycenaean form of that word, wo-wo.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Homer, meaning to dig: in the Iliad a trench is to be dug close by, and in the Odyssey a pit is dug and the herb moly is dug up from the ground.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it for digging pits and canals, for the soil that is dug out, and in the middle voice for having stones quarried; an oracle he quotes speaks of digging through an isthmus.^[5][8] Sophocles uses it for burying a sword in the earth where no one will see it, Aristotle for moles burrowing, and Aristophanes for a wrestler gouging at a tender part of his opponent.^[5] In the New Testament it is used of digging the ground to hide something and of digging out a place for something.^[9]

The verb was mostly used with prefixes such as κατορύσσω (katorússō, “to bury”) and διορύσσω (diorússō, “to dig through”), and its nouns include ὄρυγμα (órugma, “pit, hole”) and διῶρυξ (diō̂rux, “ditch, canal”).^[3] ὄρυξ (órux), a pickaxe, is also the name of an African gazelle, which Beekes thinks is rather a loanword reshaped by folk etymology than a name taken from its pointed horns.^[3] Medieval Greek kept the ancient verb, and Modern Greek uses ορύσσω (orýsso) as a formal word for digging an excavation.^[10][4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for digging a trench and a pit.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for digging canals and, in the middle voice, for having stones quarried.^[5][8]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for burying a sword in the ground.^[5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a wrestler gouging at his opponent.^[5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for moles burrowing.^[5]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the formal word Modern Greek ορύσσω (orýsso), to dig an excavation.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dig a trench, pit or well; to dig something up from the ground.^[5][8]
2. To dig through, cut a canal through; of moles, to burrow.^[5]
3. To bury something in the ground.^[5]
4. (middle) To have something dug, have stones quarried.^[5]
5. Of a wrestler, to dig into or gouge a tender part; to gouge out an eye.^[5]

Word family

• κατορύσσω (katorússō)
• διορύσσω (diorússō)
• ὄρυγμα (órugma)
• διῶρυξ (diō̂rux)
• κατῶρυξ (katō̂rux)
• ὄρυξ (órux)

Related words

• Latin runcō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr