Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 8th century BC

An old neuter s-stem, the poetic companion, from Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ) “means, contrivance”. Chantraine and Frisk explain both from an ancient heteroclitic noun, reconstructed as μῆχαρ…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *migske-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *miḱ-sḱé-, a present with the suffix *-sḱéti of *mei̯ḱ- (“to mix”). The same present is found in Latin misceō (“to…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mneh₂- (“to remind”), probably an extension of *men- (“to think, remember”). Outside Greek the root is found mainly in Sanskrit, and Chantraine sets μνάομαι…

It is an onomatopoeic verb with intensive reduplication. Πάπυρος explains the o of the first syllable as a dissimilation of u and the ending as the present suffix *-yo-. Similar imitative formations…

It is from Ancient Greek μείρομαι (meíromai, “to receive as one's share”), an o-grade noun from the verb's root, like μοῖρα (moîra) and μέρος (méros). The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European…

The origin is unclear. A Hesychius gloss, ἀμερφές (amerphés, “ugly”), implies an old neuter *μέρφος (*mérphos), which would stand beside μορφή as γένος (génos) stands beside γονή (gonḗ); but the…

Beekes considers it a loanword of unclear origin, probably Pre-Greek, because of its ending, as in ἑλίκη (helíkē) and ἀδίκη (adíkē). Its ι was originally short, and the long ι in some Homeric lines…

The origin is unknown. Chæréphon, citing Chantraine's dictionary, derives it within Greek from μύρομαι (múromai, “to flow, pour forth”), and Πάπυρος suggests an expressive word for what is boundless…

It is a by-form from Ancient Greek νή (nḗ, “yes, by”), with which it alternates as the dialect forms αἰ (ai), ἠ (ē) and εἰ (ei) of “if” do. Frisk suggests that Tocharian B nai (“surely”) could be a…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ναῦς (naûs, “ship”) + -της (-tēs), with the agent suffix. The noun is from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂u- (“ship”), an old Indo-European word for the ship. Cognate with…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“violent death; to perish”), extended with a u-suffix that recurs in Avestan nasu- (“corpse”). The bare root noun survives in the gloss νέκες (nékes…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *némos, a neuter s-stem. Beekes and Frisk take it to be the same word as Latin nemus (“forest, sacred grove”), and a Celtic derivative with a…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *snḗh₁wr̥ (“band, sinew”), an r-stem extended with a thematic vowel, like Latin nervus (“sinew”), which matches it except in gender. The r-stem itself…

Its origin is unclear: Frisk calls it unexplained, and Chantraine finds none of the proposals satisfactory. It is probably formed with the negative prefix νη- (nē-), but the stem is disputed. The…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sneh₂- (“to swim, bathe”), with a velar enlargement ⟨χ⟩ such as that of σμήχω (smḗkhō) beside σμῆν (smên). The same root is found in Latin nō (“to swim”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), an old adverb kept in most branches of Indo-European. The final ν may continue either an old *-m, as in Latin num, or an *-n, as in Sanskrit…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *snusós (“daughter-in-law”), an old feminine o-stem. Only Armenian keeps the same stem; the other languages moved the word into other classes: Latin nurus…

It has no certain cognates. Since Curtius it has been compared with Latin natis (“buttock”), plural natēs; if the two are related, Beekes allows either an old root noun Proto-Indo-European *n(e)h₃t-…

It is an inherited word, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ksuró- (“razor”), identical with Sanskrit क्षुर (kṣurá-, “razor”). It is derived from the root of ξύω (xúō, “to scrape”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ksuyō, from the root Proto-Indo-European *kseu- (“to shave, scrape, scratch”). Beekes notes that no other language has a verb system matching the Greek one…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hó, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *só (“this one”), an old demonstrative whose masculine and feminine nominative began with s- and whose other forms began…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hed-ún-eh₂ (“pain”), a form in ⟨-ᾱ⟩ built on a verbal noun in *-ur, *-un-. Aeolic ἐδύνας (edúnas), accusative plural, is cited only by Gregory of Corinth in…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to hate”). Frisk and Chantraine take it as a verb in -ύω (*ὀδύομαι (*odúomai), the σ of the perfect and passive being analogical), formed from a…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃eis- (“to move quickly”), through an older *οἶσμα (*oîsma). Beekes and Frisk compare Avestan aēšma- (“anger”), a primary noun beside an…

The original forms are ὀΐομαι (oḯomai) and ὀΐω (oḯō), from which the later forms developed; οἶμαι (oîmai) and the imperfect ᾤμην (ṓimēn) arose where the verb was unstressed. The oldest forms point…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *omíkʰlā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃migʰleh₂ (“fog”), with the suffix of νεφέλη (nephélē). It is identical with the Balto-Slavic word for fog…

It is from Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “one and the same, common”), whose genitive singular came to be used as an adverb. Babiniotis instead analyses it as the stem with an adverbial ending ⟨-οῦ⟩, as…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) + -άζω (-ázō). Beside it Greek had the poetic ὀνομαίνω (onomaínō), with the same meaning. The noun is the old Indo-European word…

It is a Greek formation with the suffix ⟨-λο-⟩ and the o-grade from Ancient Greek ἕπω (hépō, “to be busy with, care for”), whose root is inherited, Proto-Indo-European *sep- (“to care for…

The origin is unknown. It is generally taken as the base of the verb ὀπτάω (optáō, “to roast”), rather than the other way round. Beekes, following Furnée, compares ὄψον (ópson, “cooked food”) as a…

It is formed, with the stem of the relative pronoun and the indefinite adverb, from Ancient Greek ὅς (hós, “who, which”) + πως (pōs), the unaccented form of πῶς (pôs, “how?”). The stem ὁ- of the…

It is the verbal adjective of ὀρέγω (orégō, “to stretch out, reach for”), and it is reconstructed as inherited from Proto-Hellenic *orektós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós, from the…

Its further analysis is uncertain. LIV takes it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ri-né-H-, a nasal-infix present of *h₃rei̯H- (“to swirl, churn”), the same formation as a Vedic verb meaning…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek ὁρμή (hormḗ, “onset, rush, impulse”). The noun's origin is uncertain. Since Pott it has been compared, probably correctly in Frisk's view, with a rare…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hormā́, whose further origin is disputed. Frisk, following Pott and others, thinks it probably right to compare Sanskrit सर्म (sárma, “flowing, streaming”), from…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *órnūmi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to set in motion, to rise”). It is a nasal present of the type *h₃r̥-néu-, which Sanskrit ऋणोति (ṛṇóti, “sets in…

The origin is uncertain. The LIV takes it as an iterative formation, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁orǵʰ-éye-, from the root *h₁erǵʰ- (“to mount, climb”), and Frisk likewise sees in it an…

1. The relative pronoun is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hyós (“who, which”). Cognate with Sanskrit यद् (yád), Avestan yō and Phrygian ιος (ios). Old too is…

It is an inherited dual, inherited from Proto-Hellenic *okʷi̯e, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ókʷih₁ (“the two eyes”), the dual of the root noun for “eye” from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-…

It is formed from Ancient Greek οὐκ (ouk, “not”) + ἔτι (éti, “still, yet”), and editions also print it divided. It is the negative of the same adverb that μηκέτι (mēkéti) is with μή (mḗ). The adverb…

In Beekes's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *so- (“this, that”), with its oblique stem *to-, fused with *h₂u-to- (“that one”), the stem also found in αὐτός (autós). The element *h₂u…

It is the adverb from Ancient Greek οὗτος (hoûtos, “this”) + -ως (-ōs), the adverbial ending, just as Latin sic goes with hic. Beekes explains the pronoun as a fusion of the demonstrative stem of…

Wiktionary derives it from a form of Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“on”) and relates it to ὀπίσω (opísō, “behind, after”) and ὄπισθεν (ópisthen). Frisk compares the Aeolic form ὄψι (ópsi) with ὕψι…

A frozen accusative of a lost noun meaning “a turning”, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥H-i-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn, revolve”). The noun may first have been used…

Its origin is uncertain: Wiktionary and Bailly tentatively analyse it as from Ancient Greek παν- (pan-, “all”) + δέρω (dérō, “to skin, flay”). Etymonline notes that the name is perhaps not Greek…

It is a nursery word, with reduplication and a doubled consonant, corresponding to πατήρ (patḗr), like μάμμη (mámmē) beside the word for “mother”. Babiniotis likewise explains it as a reduplication…

It is from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), first meaning “to put or throw beside”. The sense “to compare” is already ancient.

1. It is formed from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) + εἰμί (eimí, “to be”): “to be beside, be at hand”. 2. It is formed from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside, past”) + εἶμι (eîmi, “to go”).

It is conventionally inherited from Proto-Hellenic *parsteno-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-stén-o-s (“with protruding breasts”), as Klingenschmitt proposed in 1974, from…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πατήρ (patḗr, “father”) + -ίς (-ís), as the feminine of πάτριος (pátrios, “of one's fathers”). The noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”).

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”), an e-grade derivative of the word for the foot. Greek otherwise keeps the e-grade only in old derivatives such as πέδον (pédon), πέδιλον…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pedóm (“footstep, place”), a thematic noun formed from the root Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”) of πούς (poús, “foot”), first meaning the place where the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *péitʰō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to trust”). Beekes derives the present from a thematic *bʰeidʰ-e/o- and the aorist ἐπιθόμην (epithómēn) from a root…

It is a denominative verb formed from Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt”) + -άω (-áō). The noun is from Proto-Greek *περ-ι̯α (*per-ia), seen in Aeolic πέρρα (pérra), formed like στεῖρα…

The bird was named after its grey colour. Beekes and Frisk take πέλεια as the feminine of a lost u-stem adjective Ancient Greek *πελύς (*pelús, “grey”), its accent being that of feminines of u-stems…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʷélō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn, to move around”), a thematic present. Because the labiovelar became π before ε, the form must be…

The etymology is unknown, though the family has an Indo-European shape: a present πέρθω, an aorist ἔπρᾰθον (éprathon) and an iterative πορθέω (porthéō). Janda and the LIV propose that it is…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péri, in Beekes's view an old locative of a root meaning “to cross, pass”, so that the word first meant “in crossing, in passing”. Chantraine and Frisk also…

It is a nasal-infix present inherited from Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- (“to sell”), *pr̥-né-h₂-. The aorist περάσαι (perásai), the perfect πέπρᾱμαι (péprāmai) and the passive πρᾱθῆναι (prāthênai)…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pétalon, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂lom, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out”). Within Greek it belongs with πετάννυμι (petánnūmi…