Etymologically
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ὁράω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ho.rá.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /oˈra.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /oˈra.o/[1]

Forms

ὁρᾰ́ω (horáō) [1] Ionic ὁρέω (horéō), Aeolic ὄρημι (órēmi), epic ὁρόω (horóō).[2][3] Suppletive tenses: future ὄψομαι (ópsomai), aorist εἶδον (eîdon), perfect ὄπωπα (ópōpa) and Attic ἑόρακα (heóraka) (later ἑώρακα (heṓraka)), aorist passive ὤφθην (ṓphthēn).[3][2] Mycenaean o-ro-me-no, a participle meaning “overseer”.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *worā́ō,[1] from the root Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, guard”).[1][5] The Attic imperfect ἑώρων (heṓrōn) and perfect ἑόρακα (heóraka) seem to presuppose an initial /w/, which has left no other trace in Homer or the inscriptions and is absent from the Mycenaean participle Mycenaean Greek o-ro-me-no.[5][2]

Beekes finds three present stems: ὁράω (horáō), Aeolic ὄρημι (órēmi), and a simple thematic stem in Homeric ὄρονται (órontai).[5] The first may be an intensive verb or a denominative from a noun *worā “attention”, which is found in φρουρά (phrourā́) “watch, guard” and in Old High German wara (“attention”).[5] Cognates include Latin vereor (“to fear, revere”), the English wary and aware, and in Greek οὖρος (oûros) “watcher” and ὤρα (ṓrā) “care”.[1][5]

Only the present system belongs to this root.[1][6] The future ὄψομαι (ópsomai) and the perfect ὄπωπα (ópōpa) come from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“to see”), and the aorist εἶδον (eîdon) from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Pylos tablet has the participle Mycenaean Greek o-ro-me-no, “overseer”.[4][5] In Homer the verb means to look, to see and to behold, and is used in the phrase “to see the light of the sun”, that is, to be alive.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it covered the whole field of seeing: having the faculty of sight, looking towards something, catching sight of it, and perceiving with the mind.[3][2] In Attic the questions “do you see?” (ὁρᾷς;) and “do you all see?” drew attention to a point, often with reproach, in tragedy, comedy and Plato.[3][6] It also meant to pay attention, to see to something or take care that something happen, and, of a place, to face in some direction.[3]

In the New Testament it is used for seeing God or visions, and, in the passive, of God or angels appearing; the New Testament mostly uses βλέπω (blépō) in the present and the forms of εἶδον (eîdon) for the aorist.[7] In Byzantine times a middle aorist ὠψάμην (ōpsámēn) arose.[7] Medieval vernacular Greek still had Byzantine Greek ορώ (oró) “to see, look at”, and Modern Greek keeps ορώ (oró) “to see”.[8][9]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean – A Pylos tablet has the participle Mycenaean Greek o-ro-me-no, “overseer”.[4][5]
  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for looking and seeing, in all its forms.[10][2]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic form ὁρέω (horéō);[2] Thucydides uses it of a place facing another.[2][3][11]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Attic comedy requires the perfect ἑόρακα (heóraka) in its verse.[2]
  • 3rd century BC – Papyri have the later perfect ἑώρακα (heṓraka).[2]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for seeing persons and visions.[7]
  • Medieval Greek – Vernacular texts still use the verb for “to see, look at”.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To have sight, to be able to see; to see the light, to be alive.[3][2]
  2. To look, to direct one's eyes towards something; to look at someone or something.[3][2]
  3. To see, catch sight of, perceive with the eyes; in the passive, to be seen.[3][7]
  4. To perceive with the mind, realise, understand.[3][2]
  5. To pay heed, attend to; to see to something, take care that something happens.[3]
  6. (in questions) “Do you see?”, drawing attention to a point.[3][6]
  7. To visit, meet; to admit someone to one's presence.[3]
  8. Of a place, to face in a certain direction.[3]

Word family

  • ἀφοράω (aphoráō)
  • διοράω (dioráō)
  • ἐγκαθοράω (enkathoráō)
  • εἰσκαθοράω (eiskathoráō)
  • εἰσοράω (eisoráō)
  • ἐνοράω (enoráō)
  • ἐξοράω (exoráō)
  • ἐποράω (eporáō)
  • ἐφοράω (ephoráō)
  • καθοράω (kathoráō)
  • ὅραμα (hórāma)
  • ὅρασις (hórāsis)
  • ὁρατός (horatós)
  • τιμωρός (tīmōrós)
  • θεωρός (theōrós)
  • φρουρά (phrourā́)
  • οὖρος (oûros)
  • Latin vereor
  • English wary

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Βασικό Λεξικό της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  10. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge