Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 8th century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) + ἵσταμαι (hístamai, “to stand”), from earlier *ἐπιhίσταμαι (*epihístamai), with early loss of the /h/ and contraction of the vowels. The second part goes…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπι- (epi-, “upon, towards”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”). Beekes regards the root of στρέφω (stréphō) as Pre-Greek, since it has no Indo-European cognates and…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”). Beekes traces τίθημι (títhēmi) to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, lay down, make”).

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *heptə́, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ (“seven”), the Indo-European word for “seven”. Frisk explains the accent on the last syllable as taken over…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”) + -άζω (-ázō). The noun, Doric ϝέργον (wérgon), is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵo- (“work”), identical with Avestan varəzəm, Old High…

In LIV's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)rei̯ḱ- (“to tear, break”), with the full-grade present ἐρείκω beside the old weak-grade root aorist ἤρικον (ḗrikon). The initial ⟨ε⟩ may…

It is an instrument noun formed from Ancient Greek ἐρέσσω (eréssō, “to row”) + -μόν (-món), beside ἐρέτης (erétēs, “rower”). They come from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *h₁erh₁- (“to…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *erépʰō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rébʰeti, from the root *h₁rebʰ- (“to cover, roof”). Frisk calls it undoubtedly inherited, but the only cognates are…

The origin is unknown. The personal names Ἀμφήριτος (Amphḗritos) and Ἀνήριτος (Anḗritos) show that it was originally an i-stem, the dental of the genitive being secondary, so it cannot come from…

In form it is an old verbal noun in -μα (-ma) with the regular e-grade of its root, but no etymology is agreed, and its very different meanings have led some scholars to give its senses different…

It is from Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō, “to crawl”), its verbal adjective being used as a noun. The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to crawl”) and is identical with Sanskrit सर्पति…

The verb is suppletive: ἔρχομαι itself has only a present stem. In Attic the imperfect and usually the future come from εἶμι (eîmi), while the aorist ἦλθον (êlthon), the perfect ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha)…

It is a noun from Ancient Greek ἔραμαι (éramai, “to love, desire”). Its many derivatives in -σ-, such as ἐραστής (erastḗs) and ἐραννός (erannós), point to an original s-stem, like γέλως (gélōs)…

It is a secondary present, from Ancient Greek εἴρομαι (eíromai, “to ask”), on the root: Ionic εἰρωτάω (eirōtáō) and the Attic form go back to *ἐρϝωτάω (*erwōtáō), which replaced the older verb…

It is from Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnūmi, “to clothe”), whose root is Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to clothe”). Chantraine calls it an obscure remaking of the rarer ἔσθος (ésthos, “clothing”)…

It is a Greek new present from Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō, “to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Schwyzer derived the presents ἔσθω (ésthō) and ἐσθίω from the old imperative ἔσθι…

As a collective or abstract noun in ⟨‑ία⟩, like οἰκία (oikíā) and κλισία (klisíā), it presupposes an underlying noun. The old comparison with Latin Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth, and with…

It is remodelled from Ancient Greek ἕταρος (hétaros, “companion”), the older epic form. From ἕταρος a feminine was first made with the suffix ⟨‑ια⟩ (as χίμαιρα (khímaira) beside χίμαρος (khímaros))…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éti (“(and) also”), an old adverb. Cognate with Sanskrit अति (áti), Latin et (“and”) and Umbrian et, and Gothic 𐌹𐌸 (iþ, “but, and”). Wiktionary adds Old…

It is a root aorist, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to take upon oneself, endure”), whose zero grade *tl̥h₂- gave Greek τλᾱ- (tlā-), Ionic-Attic τλη- (tlē-). The Epic aorist ἐτάλασσα…

It is from Ancient Greek εὐάγγελος (euángelos, “bringing good news”), itself formed from εὐ- (eu-, “good, well”) and ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”) or the verb ἀγγέλλω (angéllō, “to announce”).

Because the verb's meaning is completive, Beekes takes the aorist εὗρον (heûron) to be its oldest part, with an old perfect seen in εὕρηκα (heúrēka) beside it. The future εὑρήσω (heurḗsō) arose…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ďṓwō, from earlier *gʷyṓwō, from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gʷyeh₃- (“to live”). Beekes and Chantraine derive both stems from that root: the…

It is probably a derivative from Ancient Greek ζόφος (zóphos, “darkness, the west”), the wind being named after the region where the sun sets. Chantraine calls the connection certain, and the CGL…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yes- (“to boil, foam”), a thematic root present from an older *ζέσω (*zésō) whose /s/ survives in ζεστός (zestós) and ζέσμα (zésma). It matches Sanskrit…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yoh₃snéh₂ (“girdle”), a noun formed with the suffix *-neh₂ from the root *yeh₃s- (“to gird”). Beekes writes the noun *yeh₃s-neh₂. The same root gives the…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yēgʷeh₂ (“power, youthful strength”). On that reconstruction it matches Lithuanian jėgà “power, strength” and Latvian jȩ̃ga “power, sense” exactly…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to lead”) + -μων (-mōn). Beekes takes the verb as an iterative present of Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“trace, search”), probably a word from the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἦ (ê, “truly”) + δή (dḗ, “precisely, now”), two particles that grew together. Babiniotis compares the same particle in ἐπειδή (epeidḗ).

It is an adverb in short -α (-a), like ὦκα (ôka, “quickly”) and πύκα (púka, “thickly”), with the epic loss of the rough breathing (psilosis) also seen in the Homeric superlative ἤκιστος (ḗkistos…

The forms rest on the old accusative, Doric ᾱ̔μέ (hāmé) and Aeolic ἄμμε (ámme), from *ἀσμε (*asme). It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *n̥sme, a zero-grade stem *n̥s- with an added element…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs, “we”) + -τερος (-teros, “contrastive suffix”), from the stem of the plural pronoun with the suffix that marks one of two contrasted groups, “ours” as…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *yêkʷər, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hyékʷr̥ (“liver”), the Indo-European name of the liver, an r/n-stem with the genitive *Hyekʷ-n-és. The Greek genitive…

In Beekes's view, following Kiparsky, it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eus-er-i (“in the early morning”), a locative from the root *h₂ews- (“dawn”) of ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”). Wiktionary gives…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *auhṓs, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsōs (“dawn”), the Indo-European word for the dawn, which was also worshipped as a goddess. Beekes reconstructs…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰalh₁- (“to well up, sprout”), the reconstruction of the LIV, which Beekes doubts. The only certain cognates are in Albanian and Armenian: Albanian dal…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰers- (“to dare”), as an s-stem noun. Beekes takes the older form to be Aeolic θέρσος (thérsos), replaced by θάρσος and θράσος (thrásos) under the…

It is the Attic form of a verb that is Epic and Ionic θηέομαι (thēéomai) and Doric θᾱέομαι (thāéomai), all from a stem ⟨θᾱϝ-⟩, which is also the base of the noun θέα (théa, “sight, spectacle”). The…

The origin is disputed. The usual view derives it from the root of τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”), Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, as “what is laid down”, and compares Avestan dāmi- (“creation…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰénwr̥ (“flat of the hand, palm”), an old word for the palm of the hand. Cognate with Old High German tenar and its feminine tenra, which are thematic…

It is formed from Ancient Greek θεράπων (therápōn, “attendant, servant”) + -εύω (-eúō), a denominative verb. Beekes considers the family of θεράπων Pre-Greek: the related θεράπνη (therápnē) also…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʷʰéros (“heat; summer”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰéros (“heat, warm weather”), an s-stem noun of the root Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“warm…

It is from Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, set”): the link with the root of that verb is obvious. Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk explain it as the weak root form θε-, the same as in θέσις…

It is formed from Ancient Greek θήρ (thḗr, “wild beast”) + -ιον (-ion, “diminutive suffix”), a diminutive in form but not in meaning. Beekes derives θήρ (thḗr) from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-…

It is formed from Ancient Greek θύος (thúos, “burnt offering, sacrifice”) + -σκόος (-skóos, “observer”), probably “observer of sacrifices”. Beekes and Frisk find the analysis hard to reject: the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἰάομαι (iáomai, “to heal”) + -τρος (-tros), with the suffix of agent nouns. Beside it Greek has other words for the healer from the same verb: ἰατήρ (iatḗr) (Homer…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hwédios, from Proto-Indo-European *swéd-yo-s, from the reflexive *swé (“self”). Beekes, Frisk and Chantraine base this on the Argive ϝhεδιεστας (whediéstas…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (“to strive for, go after”), in LIV's analysis an athematic present with i-reduplication, *wi-wéyh₁-. Beekes and Frisk relate it to Sanskrit वेति…

The origin is unclear. It is the Ionic and epic counterpart of an Attic adjective with the same meaning. A Cretan feminine εἰθεῖα (eitheîa) confirms an older *εἰθύς (*eithús). Willi connects the…

In Beekes's analysis ἵλαος and ἵλεως (hī́leōs) are inherited from Proto-Indo-European *si-sl̥h₂-wo-, an adjective built on the reduplicated stem of ἱλάσκομαι (hīláskomai, “to propitiate”), from the…

It is a secondary formation in -ντ- from Ancient Greek *ἱμα (*hima, “rope”), a lost noun, which also underlies ἱμάω (himáō, “to draw up”) and ἱμαῖος (himaîos); an n-stem *ἱμων (*hīmōn) is continued…

The origin is not clear. The ending matches instrumentals such as Sanskrit येन (yéna, “by which”) and Sanskrit तेन (téna, “by that”), as well as Old High German hina (“thither”) and Old Irish cen…

It is a reduplicated noun, inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wíwolnos (compare ἴονθος (íonthos)), from the root Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”). It is related to οὖλος (oûlos, “woolly…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand, set up”). The simple verb belongs to the root Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, set”); its transitive…

The origin is unknown. Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Hellenic *kahi, earlier Proto-Hellenic *kasi, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥t-, a form of Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with”), and compares…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because both its root and its suffix look like Pre-Greek elements. It resembles Sanskrit कलिका (kalikā, “bud”), a word of Classical Sanskrit, but Beekes and…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱemh₂- (“to exert oneself, get tired”). The thematic nasal present κάμνω is a Greek innovation beside an athematic nasal present in Sanskrit, from the verb…

It is a compound whose second part is from Ancient Greek -γνητος (-gnētos, “born”), from the root of γίγνομαι (gígnomai), a term of legitimate, recognised birth. Beekes reconstructs…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kətá, from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *km̥t- “down, with, along”. It is identical with Hittite kattan “below, underneath” and katta “along with”, and the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) + λύω (lúō, “to loosen”). The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- (“to cut off, set free”) (Beekes *lh₁u-), and is cognate with…