ῥέζω
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /r̥éz.dɔː/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈre.zo/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈre.zo/[1]
Forms
ῥέζω (rhézō) [1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wréǵ-ye-, a present in *-ye- from a form of Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”) with the liquid moved, the root of ἔργον (érgon) and ἔρδω (érdō).[1][2] Beekes explains the history within Greek: the zero-grade present Proto-Indo-European *wr̥ǵ-yé-ti gave Mycenaean Greek wo-ze, which was replaced by the full-grade verb just named; a second full grade ⟨ϝρεγ-⟩ arose first in the aorist and the future, and then reached the present.[2] The digamma is still written in an aorist participle ϝρέξαντα (wréxanta) from Cleonae, and Doric and Boeotian had ῥέδδω (rhéddō).[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Homer uses it both for doing in general, set against saying or suffering, and for performing sacrifices.[3][4][5] A line of the Iliad says that “a fool knows a thing once it is done”.[3][6]
Semantic evolution
The verb is frequent in Epic poetry and tragedy but rare in Attic prose and comedy, and Pherecrates uses it only in mock-heroic verse.[3] Its constructions run from acting in a certain way, to doing good or harm to someone, to offering a hecatomb or a sacrifice to a god.[3][4] Hellenistic poets such as Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes kept the sense “to sacrifice”.[4]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad uses it of doing deeds and of offering sacrifices to the gods.[3][5]
- Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of doing deeds.[4][7][8]
- 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of offering hecatombs.[3][4][8]
- 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of victims sacrificed to Zeus.[3][4]
- 4th century BC – Plato uses an aorist of a city treating people badly.[3][8]
- 3rd century BC – Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes use it of sacrificing.[4][8]
Meanings
Verb
- To act, behave in a certain way.[3][4]
- To do, accomplish, perform something.[3][4]
- To do good or harm to someone; to treat someone well or badly.[3][4]
- To offer a sacrifice or victim; without an object, to sacrifice.[3][4]
Word family
- καταρρέζω (katarrhézō)
Related words
- ἔργον (érgon)
- ἔρδω (érdō)
Usage notes
A separate Doric verb ῥέζω “to dye”, recorded by Epicharmus, Photius and the Etymologicum Magnum, has another origin: Beekes and the LIV connect it with Sanskrit रज्यति (rájyati, “is coloured, turns red”) and reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *(s)reg- (“to dye”).[2][9][3] Its derivatives include ῥέγος (rhégos) and ῥῆγος (rhêgos) “blanket, rug”.[3][10]
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
- ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
- ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
- ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
- ^ 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