Etymologically
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ὄζω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /óz.dɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈo.zo/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈo.zo/[1]

Forms

ὄζω (ózō) [1] Doric ὄσδω (ósdō) (Theocritus).[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ód͏̌d͏̌ō,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-ye-, a yod-present of Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to smell”).[1][4][3] Except for the perfect ὄδωδα (ódōda), all the verb's forms are Greek innovations built on the present.[3] The nouns ὀδμή (odmḗ) and the compounds in -ώδης (-ṓdēs) may be old:[3] the first may match Albanian amë (“unpleasant smell”), and the second the s-stem of Latin odor; ὀσμή (osmḗ) comes from *ὀδ-σ-μά (*od-s-mā́).[3] Latin oleō and archaic olō have /l/ for /d/.[3] Lithuanian úosti has the same yod-present; its long vowel is due to Winter's law.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the pluperfect ὀδώδει: in the Odyssey a fragrance spreads through the air.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Classical period it is to give off a smell, pleasant or foul, usually with an adverb (“sweetly”, “badly”) or with the genitive of what one smells of;[2] Aristophanes and Xenophon also use it figuratively, to smack of something.[2][6] It can be impersonal, “there is a smell”, as in Herodotus.[2] In the New Testament Martha says of Lazarus, four days dead, ἤδη ὄζει, “by now he stinks”.[7]

Timeline

  • Homer – the pluperfect ὀδώδει of a fragrance pervading the air.[2][5]
  • 7th century BC – Alcman uses it with the genitive.[2][8]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it impersonally.[2][8]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for smacking of something.[2][8]
  • 1st century AD – the Gospel of John uses it of Lazarus' body.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give off a smell, good or bad; with the genitive, to smell of something.[2][6]
  2. (figurative) To smack of something.[2]
  3. (impersonal) There is a smell of something.[2]
  4. Perfect and pluperfect: of a fragrance, to pervade the air; to have a smell.[2]

Word family

  • ἀπόζω (apózō)
  • προσόζω (prosózō)
  • ἐξόζω (exózō)
  • ἐπόζω (epózō)
  • κατόζω (katózō)
  • συνόζω (sunózō)
  • ἀώδης (aṓdēs)
  • ὄζαινα (ózaina)
  • ὄζη (ózē)
  • Ὀζόλαι (Ozólai)
  • ὄζολις (ózolis)
  • ὀζομενία (ozomenía)
  • ὀζώδης (ozṓdēs)
  • ὀσμή (osmḗ)
  • ὀσμητός (osmētós)
  • ὀσμίτης (osmítēs)
  • Latin odor
  • Latin oleō

References

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