Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 8th century BC

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *statós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂tós (“placed, standing”). Beekes and Frisk describe it as the old verbal adjective of ἵστημι (hístēmi) “to…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variant ἄσταχυς (ástakhus), which is hard to explain from Indo-European. Frisk and Chantraine follow Fick in deriving it from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *stéikʰō (“to walk, go”), from Proto-Indo-European *steigʰ- (“to stride, climb”). The full-grade thematic present agrees exactly with Gothic and Old Irish verbs…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *sténō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sten- (“to groan”), a full-grade thematic present. It matches exactly Sanskrit स्तनति (stanati, “to drone, thunder”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *stér(h₃)-no-m, from *sterh₃- (“to spread out”), the root of στόρνυμι (stórnumi, “to spread”). Beekes prefers this root for the sense, though the development…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *strətós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *str̥tós, the verbal adjective in *-tós of the root *ster- (“to spread out”), so probably first an army spread out in…

It is formed from Ancient Greek στρέφω (stréphō, “to twist, turn”) + -ος (-os), with the o-grade of the root, ο in place of the verb's ε. It is thus “something twisted”, a cord or band.

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tú, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you (singular)”). Cognate with Latin tū, German du, Lithuanian tù, Sanskrit त्वम् (tvam) and Old English þū. The…

It is formed from Ancient Greek συμ- (sum-, “together”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), with the prefix form of σύν (sún, “with”) used before a labial. The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “together”) + πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”). Beekes traces πίπτω (píptō), a reduplicated present, to Proto-Indo-European *petH- (“to fly, fall”).

It is formed from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with, together”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand, to set”). The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, to set”).

It is formed from Ancient Greek συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”). Modern Greek συνθέτω (synthéto) is a remodelling of it after medieval θέτω (théto), from τίθημι (títhēmi).

Beekes and Frisk take it as an inherited sound word, formed like σμαραγέω (smaragéō, “to resound”), and Beekes reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *sbʰrh₂ǵ- (“to burst, crackle”), since the aspirate in…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *sáwos, as the Cypriot name Σαϝοκλέϝης (Sawokléwēs) shows. Contraction of σάος (sáos) gave the Attic form, from which σῶος (sôos) was made by thematisation, and…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tálanton, from an older plural τάλαντα (tálanta, “scales”), properly “the bearing ones”, a formation in -ντ- (-nt-) like a participle, Proto-Indo-European…

The origin is unknown. Beekes considers an Indo-European explanation most improbable: a link with the root of τάλας (tálas) “enduring” is impossible because that root contained a laryngeal. Frisk…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek. Furnée compared ταρμύσσω (tarmússō, “to startle”), with the alternation of /b/ and /m/ that Beekes counts among the marks of Pre-Greek words, and the stem is hard to…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʷékmər, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷéḱ-mr̥, a noun of the root of seeing. Chantraine, after Benveniste, sees in τέκμαρ and Homeric τέκμωρ (tékmōr) archaic forms…

It is formed from Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “end, fulfilment”) + -ιος (-ios). How the suffix was added is much discussed: Beekes considers *τελεσ-ος (*teles-os), *τελεσ-ϝος (*teles-wos) and…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “end, fulfilment; tax”), with the verbal suffix *-ϳω (*-jō); synchronically it is the noun with -έω (-éō). Wiktionary traces the noun to…

It is from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”), a primary derivative that keeps the full grade of the root, which also gives τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”). Beekes follows Strunk in this analysis…

It is an archaic neuter in -ας (-as), like κτέρας (ktéras), σέλας (sélas) and βρέτας (brétas). Its origin is uncertain. Beekes and Chantraine connect it with πέλωρ (pélōr, “monster”) and its variant…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *téretron, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *térh₁trom, an instrument noun with the suffix -τρον (-tron) formed from the two-syllable root Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwr̥-to- (“fourth”), the ordinal of the Indo-European numeral for “four”, which Greek continues as τέσσαρες (téssares). The same ordinal is found in…

It is a Greek formation from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), with reduplication and the suffix -αίνω (-aínō). The old forms of the verb are the perfect passive τέτρημαι (tétrēmai), the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tālíkos, formed with a suffix -κος (-kos) from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂li-, which is the demonstrative *teh₂ (“thus”) with a suffix *-li-. The same stem is in…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tíktō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *títḱeti, a present with i-reduplication of the root *teḱ- (“to beget, produce”). The present stands for *τίτκω…

The origin is unknown. With its suffix in *-ye- it cannot be an old primary verb; if it is not a loan, it must be a denominative from an unattested noun such as *τίλος (*tílos), and it has no…

It is a noun from Ancient Greek τίω (tíō, “to honour, value”) + -μη (-mē). Beekes traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁i- (“observe, hold back, honour”) and finds the noun, with its long…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (“who; someone”), the Indo-European interrogative and indefinite pronoun. The enclitic pronoun is the unaccented use of the same pronoun as the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tʰrépʰō; the initial /tʰ/ lost its aspiration by Grassmann's law, which is why the aspirate reappears where the /pʰ/ lost its own: future θρέψω (thrépsō), aorist…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tridḱómt (“thirty”). The word is a compound of a form of τρεῖς (treîs, “three”) and the element -κοντα (-konta) that marks the tens, as in ἑξήκοντα…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *trítos, formed from *tréyes (“three”) with the ordinal suffix *-tos. Beekes counts it among the inherited forms of the numeral τρεῖς (treîs, “three”), and…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tʰunkʰanō, a nasal present inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewgʰ- (“to hit the mark, meet”), built on the zero grade *dʰu-n-gʰ-. The present τυγχάνω and the…

It is probably an imitation of the sound of howling or barking. Beekes compares Latin ululō (“to howl”), ulula (“owl”) and Lithuanian ulúoti (“to howl”), and Greek ὀλολύζω (ololū́zō). For the ending…

The origin is uncertain. Beekes rejects the old comparisons with Latin silva (“forest”) and with ξύλον (xúlon, “wood”). Taking “firewood” as the original sense, he finds two possibilities: with…

It has no certain etymology. Beekes discusses several proposals: a derivative of ὑμήν (humḗn, “membrane”), from Proto-Indo-European *syuH-mn̥ (“tie, seam”), as a “construction” of songs, which…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hupér, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over, above”). Beekes and Frisk reconstruct the adverb with and without a final vowel, *uper(i), and Frisk…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *suh₂- (“to pour, scatter”), with a present suffix in yod. Wiktionary, following Jasanoff, takes this root to be a metathesized zero grade of…

Beekes holds that it must be an inherited verb, and in sound it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”), a root that gives Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “to bite”), English bite, Latin…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰāgós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵos (“beech”). It is identical with Latin fāgus (“beech”) and with the Germanic words, Old Norse bók and Old…

It is formed from Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “dear, one's own”) + -έω (-éō). The Epic middle aorist ἐφίλατο (ephílato) is probably modelled on the present, so no separate present needs to be…

It is a noun with the o-grade of the root, from Ancient Greek φλέγω (phlégō, “to burn, blaze”). The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”), and Chantraine analyses it as a…

The origin is uncertain. The only stem that can be reached is φραδ- (phrad-), which has a zero-grade vowel in the reduplicated aorist πέφραδον (péphradon). If its /d/ is an extension and its /a/…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰugā́, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰugéh₂, an action noun with the zero grade of *bʰewg- (“to flee”), the root of φεύγω (pheúgō, “to flee”) and its…

The word is isolated. Beekes thinks that, as the name of a sea animal, it may well be Pre-Greek. Older scholars connected it with φῦσα (phûsa, “bellows, breath”), which Beekes finds makes little…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”) + -έω (-éō). The noun is from Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoh₂-néh₂, from the root *bʰeh₂- (“to…

The verb is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʰan- (“to gape”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to gape, yawn”), with a nasal suffix. The old forms are the aorist ἔχανον (ékhanon) (infinitive…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʰelh₂d- (“hail, hoarfrost”), formed with the feminine suffix -α on a stem in a dental. The same stem is found in Slavic, Proto-Slavic *žȇldъ…

It is a frozen case form of the word for “earth”, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm, in the zero grade, the same word as χθών (khthṓn). It is usually explained as an old dative, or as a…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʰéimə, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéymn̥ (“winter”). It is one of a large Indo-European family of words for winter and snow, around a root *ǵʰey-…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰei̯-m-ón- (“winter”), an n-stem of the Indo-European root *ǵʰey- (“winter, snow”), like χεῖμα (kheîma, “winter, storm”) beside it. Beekes and…

Wiktionary gives it as inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʰérsos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰérsos, from the root *ǵʰers- (“to stand erect, bristle”). Beekes accepts this only as a…

It is the feminine of an old adjective meaning “bereft”, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁ro-. Beekes and Frisk connect it with χῶρος (khôros) and χώρα (khṓrā), from the o-grade…

It is the adjective behind from Ancient Greek χήρα (khḗrā, “widow”): the feminine, used as a noun, is the old form, and the masculine χῆρος is secondary. Chantraine explains χήρα as an old adjective…

It is built on the old word for earth, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”), which also gave χθών (khthṓn) and χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”). It is one of the few Greek forms that keep the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʰiṓn, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéyōm (“winter, snow”). Beekes reconstructs the nominative as Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰiōm, with final /m/ becoming…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, together with χλανίς (khlanís, “light upper garment”) and χλαμύς (khlamús, “cloak”): it goes back to *χλάνα (*khlána), and the group shows the interchanges of /kʰ/…

In Beekes's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰorH- (“intestine”), an Indo-European word for the intestine, though no exact match exists outside Greek. A formation in -n- is found in…

It is a primary present built on a stem χρῑσ- (khrīs-), according to Chantraine. In the view of LIV it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrey- (“to spread, apply ointment”), with a zero-grade…