Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 8th century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away, off”) + ὄλλυμι (óllumi, “to destroy, lose”). The simple verb is used only in Homer, the poets and late prose, and Attic prose has only the…

The origin is unknown, and repeated attempts to find an Indo-European etymology have failed. Beekes considers the name Pre-Greek. He takes the Hittite divine name Appaliunaš, in a treaty between…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away, back”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”). Beekes considers the simple verb Pre-Greek, because στρεβλός (streblós, “twisted”) and its cognates show a…

It is from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away, off”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”). The simple verb τίθημι (títhēmi) goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”).

The origin is unknown. Arcadian κάταρϝος (kátarwos, “cursed”) points to a form with a lost digamma, Proto-Hellenic *arwā, which explains why the first vowel is long in epic and short in Attic. After…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *warḗn, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”). The digamma is attested in Cretan ϝαρήν (warḗn). Cognate with Old Armenian գառն (gaṙn, “lamb”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ayerīston, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyeri-h₁d-to-, an old compound meaning “eaten in the morning”. Its first part is a locative “in the morning”, contracted…

The origin is not certain. Beekes, following Mayrhofer, takes it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂res- (“to refuse, deny”), with a nasal present *h₂r-n-es- built in Greek, and compares…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *(w)ə́rsēn, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wérsēn (“male”). Beekes reconstructs *u(e)rsēn (“male animal”): the Greek word continues its zero grade, as do…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek ἀρτύς (artū́s), a noun found only in Hesychius' glosses meaning “ordering” and “friendship, agreement, decision”. The noun is formed with a tu-suffix…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to be first; to begin; to rule”) + -η (-ē), the verbal noun of ἄρχω. Like the verb, the noun has two sides, being first in time (“beginning”) and being…

The origin is unclear. It is formed with the suffix -θμα (-thma) seen in ἴθμα (íthma). It is traditionally traced to an earlier *ἄνσθμα (*ánsthma) from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”)…

1. The throat is a word that Beekes considers Pre-Greek, because of its variants and its suffix -αγγ- (-ang-) with a nasal before the consonant. Hesychius has a variant without the first vowel…

Beekes and Frisk explain it as a combination of two particles. Its first part is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et (“but”), the same word as Latin at (“but”); its second is ἄρ (ár), the short…

It is a psilotic form, perhaps Aeolic, of an older *ἁτέρ (*hatér), and corresponds exactly to Old High German suntar (“separated, but”), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥-tér. Wiktionary reconstructs…

Beekes considers the name Pre-Greek: an ancient Titan can hardly be expected to bear an Indo-European name, and Pre-Greek words often end in -ant-. He thinks it was first the name of an Arcadian…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“away, again”). It matches Latin au- in aufugiō “flee away”, Lithuanian au- and the Old Church Slavonic prefix u- “away from”, and is probably related…

It is a derivative with an *-l- suffix of the stem seen in ἰαύω (iaúō, “to sleep, spend the night”), like its doublet αὖλις (aûlis, “place for passing the night”). In Beekes's view the stem is from…

It is from Ancient Greek *αὖρι (*aûri), the old locative of an /r/-stem of Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn”), perhaps extended after σήμερον (sḗmeron, “today”). The same stem is in Lithuanian…

It is from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-, “self”) + -ματος (-matos), whose second member is the zero grade of the root of μέμονα (mémona) and μένος (ménos), from Proto-Hellenic *mətós…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *autós (“self”). Its further origin is uncertain: Beekes derives it from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“again”) and the pronominal stem *to- (“that”), and Risch from…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand”), “to make stand away”. As with the simple verb, the present, imperfect, future and first aorist are transitive…

The origin is unknown. Meillet compared Old Armenian փրփուր (pʻrpʻur, “foam”), but Beekes objects that the initial ⟨ἀ-⟩ is unexplained and that the /*bʰ/ the Greek word presupposes did not give…

In Wiktionary's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷh₂bʰ-yé-ti, a present in *-ye- of *gʷeh₂bʰ- (“to dip, dive in”). It is often compared with Old Norse kvefja (“to press down, immerse…

The verb is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to swallow, devour”), a root that formed a root aorist, which suits its meaning; ἐσθίω (esthíō) served in part as its present. The zero…

In Beekes's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃-eto- (“life”), a formation of the root *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”) with the suffix also seen in θάνατος (thánatos, “death”). The DGE instead…

Beekes considers the group of βλάβη (blábē, “damage”) Pre-Greek, because Cretan forms such as ἀβλοπία (ablopía) beside ἀβλάβεια (ablábeia) show the alternations of vowel and of labial typical of…

The origin is disputed. Beekes thinks it probably cognate with βλέπω (blépō, “to look”), beside which there is likewise γλέπω (glépō): the variation between /b/ and /g/ and between /p/ and /pʰ/…

The origin is uncertain. It has been explained as the “wind from the mountains”, related to a word for “mountain” found with varying stems and vowel grades: Proto-Indo-Iranian *gr̥Híš (“mountain”)…

The origin is unknown. It is formed like other names of body parts in -ών, such as μυών (muṓn, “cluster of muscles”) and σιαγών (siagṓn, “jaw”). An old comparison with a Sanskrit dual word for the…

It is probably an action noun from Ancient Greek βούλομαι (boúlomai, “to wish, want”). Beekes notes that βουλή itself may have helped spread the ⟨ου⟩ of the verb, but he too thinks the noun is…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“to want, wish”), perhaps *gʷelh₃-, but its prehistory is much discussed and there is no agreement. Beekes assumes an old perfect *βέβολα (*bébola)…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥dús (“slow”), matching in form Lithuanian gurdùs (“slow”) and Latvian gur̃ds (“tired”). Latin gurdus (“dolt, heavy”) may belong here too. The…

It is traditionally explained as an old comparative, formed from Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”) + -ίων (-íōn), literally “the shorter one”, because the upper arm is shorter than the…

Beekes takes it as an onomatopoeic word. It resembles Latin fremō (“to roar”), Old High German breman (“to hum, roar”) and Welsh brefu (“to bleat, roar”), which come from Proto-Indo-European…

The origin is unknown. Comparisons with Latin frutex (“shrub”), with Old High German krūt (“herb”) and with Celtic words for the belly have been proposed, but none is convincing. Pokorny tentatively…

The origin is unknown. The original sense is precise, a ball or lump of earth. Beekes thinks a connection with βολβός (bolbós, “bulb”) unlikely, and Chantraine and the DGE also mention βάλλω (bállō…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷōmós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷoh₂mós, a verbal noun from the root *gʷeh₂- (“to step”) of ἔβην (ébēn) “I went”, the aorist of βαίνω (baínō). The…

Its origin is unknown. It is a poetic doublet of γῆ (gê) “earth”, and Beekes, who considers γῆ Pre-Greek, takes γαῖα to be a Pre-Greek word too: in his view γῆ is a very early contraction of the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek γε (ge) + ἄρα (ára), the emphatic particle and the other (in its short form ἄρ), “so, then”: a confirming “indeed then” became the standard particle for giving a…

In Beekes's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵe, an emphatic particle. Combinations such as ἐμέγε (emége) invite comparison with the Germanic pronouns in -k, Proto-Germanic *mek…

The origin is unclear. Since Fick it has often been connected with γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “to know”), but the long vowel of the root is left unexplained: Chantraine judges the difficulty decisive, and…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek γέλως (gélōs, “laughter”), made from the older neuter stem *γέλας (*gélas). Beekes traces the noun to Proto-Indo-European *gelh₂- (“to laugh”), which…

It is an action noun from Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “to be born, become”), built on the stem γενε- (gene-) of that verb. The DGE finds the suffix not satisfactorily explained. Formally…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *génetis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis, a noun in *-ti- from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”), though NIL marks the Greek word as uncertain. Within…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (“to taste”). The negative compound ἄγευστος (ágeustos, “not tasting”) keeps the /s/ of the root and points to a present built on a stem in /s/. The…

The common noun is the name of the mythical Γίγας (Gígās), the Giants. Beekes, following Kretschmer, considers it probably Pre-Greek: the word looks reduplicated, and its suffix ⟨-αντ-⟩ is that of…

Its origin is uncertain. Beekes finds no etymology for it: a formation like *gleh₂w-ko- would be unusual, so he thinks it is rather Pre-Greek. Others connect it with γαλήνη (galḗnē) “calm of the…

Its relation to δαίδαλος (daídalos, “cunningly wrought”) and δαίδαλον (daídalon, “work of art”) is debated. Leumann started from a Mediterranean word for “ornament”, the neuter noun, from which the…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dh₂-éi̯e-, a present of the root *deh₂(i̯)- (“to share, divide”), and agrees in its formation with Sanskrit दयते (dáyate, “divides”); the ⟨ι⟩ was…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). The aorist δακεῖν (dakeîn) matches the Sanskrit present दशति (dáśati, “bites”) in form, and the Sanskrit perfect and nouns show that the…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru (“tear”), the old Indo-European word for “tear”. It is an old u-stem. The thematic δάκρυον (dákruon) was made from its plural δάκρυα (dákrua) and…

It is a back-formation from Ancient Greek δάκρυ (dákru, “tear”), made from its plural δάκρυα (dákrua), which was taken for the plural of a neuter in -ον. The older form is poetic, while δάκρυον…

It is a present made from Ancient Greek δάμνημι (dámnēmi, “to tame, subdue”), on the stem of its aorist ἐδάμασσα (edámassa). That verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to tame, subdue”)…

It is an old perfect, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dedwóye (“to be afraid”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwey- (“to fear”). The present-looking δείδω continues *dédwoia, and the plural δείδιμεν…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dweynós, from the root *dwey- (“fear”). The Greek form goes back to *δϝεινός (*dweinós), a verbal adjective of the root of δείδω (deídō, “to fear”). Beekes…

It is formed from Ancient Greek δέκα (déka, “ten”) + -άς (-ás, “collective suffix”), like δυάς (duás), τριάς (triás) and μυριάς (muriás). Wiktionary compares the collective use of a dental suffix in…

It is formed from Ancient Greek δελφύς (delphús, “womb”) (from its root), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelbʰ- (“womb”), with a rare suffix found also in ἀκτίς (aktís), γλωχίς (glōkhís) and ὠδίς…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *deksiwós, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱs- (“right”). The ending goes back to *δεξιϝός (*deksiwós), as the Mycenaean name Mycenaean Greek de-ki-si-wo shows, and…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *deksiterós, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱs-i-teros, built on Proto-Indo-European *deḱs- (“right”) with the suffix *-tero-, which marks one of two opposed things…