ὠρύομαι

Forms

ὠρῡ́ομαι (ōrū́omai) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reu̯H- (“to roar”), a root that LIV reconstructs from the Vedic, Avestan and Slavic verbs for roaring,^[2] and LIV tentatively explains ὠρύομαι as an e-reduplicated athematic present.^[2][1] Chantraine and Frisk regard it as an old expressive word imitating a hoarse cry.^[3][4] The nearest cognates are Sanskrit रव (ráva, “roar”), Latin rūmor (“noise, rumour”) and rāvis (“hoarseness”); with an added guttural, the same root is seen in rūgiō (“to roar”), Lithuanian rū́kti and ἐρεύγομαι (ereúgomai, “to bellow”).^[3][4][1]

The long initial ⟨ω⟩ is unexplained.^[1] Frisk lists the proposals: an interjection ὤ, a prefix ὠ-, or a dissimilated intensive reduplication, and himself suggests an expressive lengthening of the prothetic vowel.^[4] Chantraine notes that the prothetic vowel varies with the vowel that follows, ⟨ε⟩ in the verb for bellowing but ⟨ω⟩ here, and also considers a prefix before the laryngeal.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Pindar's ninth Olympian, of a loud cry; the word is Ionic and poetic and very rarely used in Attic.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Properly it was the howling of wolves and dogs, as in Callimachus and Theocritus, and it was used for the roaring of lions in Apollonius of Rhodes and of animals in general in Plutarch.^[5][3] Herodotus uses it of the cries of primitive peoples, both in mourning and in joy, and Plato Comicus mocks a chorus of singers who howl like madmen.^[5][3] It is also said of the sea, and in Theocritus it takes an object: jackals and wolves howl for a dead herdsman.^[5]

In the Septuagint it is used of lions and other wild animals, and of a man crying out in distress.^[7] The First Epistle of Peter uses it of a roaring lion.^[8]

Modern Greek has it as a learned word, Modern Greek ωρύομαι (oríome), used only in the present, for shouting in anger or pain.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of a loud cry.^[5][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the cries of mourning and of joy of primitive peoples.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato Comicus uses it scornfully of singers.^[5][3][11]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus has jackals and wolves howl for the dead.^[5][11]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of lions roaring.^[5][11]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it with ἐπί for howling over someone.^[5][11]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word, ωρύομαι (oríome).^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To howl, properly of wolves and dogs.^[5][3]
2. To roar, of lions and other animals.^[5][8][7]
3. Of people, to cry aloud, wail in mourning or shout in joy; scornfully, of bad singing.^[5][3]
4. Of the sea, to roar.^[5]
5. (transitive) To howl over, lament with howling.^[5]

Word family

• ὠρυγή (ōrūgḗ)
• ὠρυδόν (ōrudón)
• ὠρυθμός (ōruthmós)
• ὠρυκτής (ōruktḗs)
• ὤρυμα (ṓruma)
• ὠρυτός (ōrutós)

Usage notes

The active voice appears only in a doubtful epigram of the Greek Anthology and in the Suda; elsewhere it is a middle deponent.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge