Etymologically
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ὄλλυμι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ól.lyː.mi/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈol.ly.mi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈol.ly.mi/[1]

Forms

ὄλλῡμῐ (óllūmi) [1]

Etymology

It goes back to the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to destroy, perish”), with the nasal present suffix -νυμι (-numi): ὄλλυμι is from *ὄλνυμι (*ólnumi) by assimilation of ⟨λν⟩ to ⟨λλ⟩, like στόρνυμι (stórnumi) beside στορέσαι (storésai).[2][1][3] The disyllabic forms ὀλέσαι (olésai) and ὄλεθρος (ólethros) point to the laryngeal at the end of the root.[2] Beekes also allows a root *h₁elh₃-, in which case the Greek present would be a recent formation.[2]

The clearest cognate is the verb in Latin dēleō (“to destroy”) and Latin aboleō (“to abolish”), an iterative *-h₃olh₁-éye-.[2][1] Hittite ḫallanna- (“to trample down, flatten”) has also been compared.[2] Within Greek, ὀλοός (oloós) “destructive” belongs here.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Iliad has the word in its second line: the wrath of Achilles is “accursed”, οὐλόμενος (oulómenos), the epic participle of the middle.[4][5] In Homer the active means to destroy men and ships, or to lose one's life, and the middle to perish.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The active has two senses from Homer on: “destroy, kill” and “lose” (one's men, one's children, one's life).[5][6] The middle means “perish, die”, especially a violent death, and of things “be lost”.[5] The perfect ὄλωλα (ólōla) means “to be dead, to be undone”, and tragedy uses it in cries of despair.[5] The simple verb is still found in the Septuagint and the Apostolic Fathers.[7]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for destroying, losing and perishing.[5][6]
  • 7th century BC – Archilochus has the present ὀλλύω.[5][6][8]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use the present ὄλλυμι.[5][8]
  • 1st–2nd century AD – The Apostolic Fathers quote it from the Septuagint.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To destroy, make an end of; to kill.[5][6]
  2. (transitive) To ruin a race, a city or a life.[6]
  3. (transitive) To lose: one's men, one's children, one's life.[5][6]
  4. (middle) To perish, die, especially by violence; of things, to be lost.[5]
  5. (perfect ὄλωλα (ólōla)) To be dead, undone, ruined.[5]

Word family

  • ὀλοός (oloós)
  • πανώλης (panṓlēs)
  • ἀπόλλυμι (apóllūmi)
  • διαπόλλυμι (diapóllumi)
  • διόλλυμι (dióllumi)
  • ἐξαπόλλυμι (exapóllumi)
  • ἐξόλλυμι (exóllumi)
  • κατόλλυμι (katóllumi)
  • παραπόλλυμι (parapóllumi)
  • ὀλέθριος (oléthrios)
  • ὄλεθρος (ólethros)
  • ὀλέκω (olékō)
  • ὀλετήρ (oletḗr)
  • ὄλωλα (ólōla)
  • οὐλόμενος (oulómenos)

References

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