*h₁ed-

Reconstruction

LIV and NIL write the root *h₁ed- 'to eat', from 'to bite'.^[1][2] Kroonen writes *h₁éd-,^[3] Ringe *h₁ed- 'to eat',^[4] and Sihler *H₁ed-.^[5]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs an acrodynamic, Narten-type root present *h₁ḗd-/h₁éd-, originally iterative-durative 'to bite again and again', hence 'to eat'.^[1] It also sets up a perfect *h₁e-h₁ód/h₁d-, in Homeric ἐδηδώς (edēdṓs), Latin ēdī, Old Irish dúaid and the Gothic preterite of 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan), and a reduplicated sé-desiderative *h₁i-h₁d-sé- in Old Irish -íss (“will eat”).^[1] The s-aorist of Old Church Slavonic, the Vedic causative आदयति (ādayati), Armenian ուտեմ (owtem) and a Gothic causative are innovations.^[1] Kümmel adds the Young Avestan perfect āθa (āθa, “has devoured”), the last verbal remnant of the root in Iranian.^[6] In LIV's view the present had already generalized its meaning in PIE, and 'to bite' survives only in derivatives.^[1]

Evidence

The root is cited under Reflexes from Anatolian, Indo-Aryan, Greek, Italic, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Armenian and Albanian.^[1][3] Its link with Hittite was one of the keys to deciphering the language.^[7] LIV cites no Tocharian verb.^[1]

Competing analyses

LIV notes that the acrodynamic paradigm rests only on Latin edim, Old Irish ithid and, indirectly, Armenian, since the long vowels of Latin and Balto-Slavic may be due to Lachmann's and Winter's laws.^[1] Jasanoff holds that the verb had a Narten paradigm with full grade throughout the plural, so that Hittite adanzi 'they eat' has analogical vocalism.^[8] Kloekhorst argues from the Old Hittite forms that the original paradigm had a zero grade in the plural, *h₁éd-ti / *h₁d-énti,^[7] and Kroonen and de Vaan reconstruct the same mobile paradigm.^[3][9] Beekes ascribes the Balto-Slavic long vowel to Winter's law.^[10]

NIL derives the word for 'tooth', *h₁d-ont-, from this root,^[2] but Beekes calls the traditional connection of Greek ὀδούς (odoús) with Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō) incorrect.^[10] Matasović notes that the laryngeal is *h₁ if 'tooth' was the present participle of 'to eat', but that many scholars reconstruct *h₃-, which explains the Greek o-.^[11]

Meanings

1. to eat,^[1][3] originally to bite^[1]

In Lithuanian the verb is used of animals, 'to devour', and of people only in Old Lithuanian and dialects.^[12] Kümmel notes the pejorative meaning of the Avestan perfect.^[6]

Derivatives

• *h₁ed-tu-, the verbal noun in Vedic अत्तवे (áttave) and the Latin supine ēsum.^[2]
• *h₁ed-r/n- in Greek εἶδαρ (eîdar), which Beekes compares with Vedic व्यद्वर (vyadvará-, “rodent”).^[10]
• *h₁ēd-s-o- in Tocharian B yetse (“skin”), possibly, in Adams's view.^[13]
• *h₁ōd-o-: Lithuanian uodas (“mosquito”) is usually thought to contain the o-grade of the root.^[14]
• *h₁d-ont- 'tooth', according to NIL.^[2]

Reflexes

• Anatolian: Hittite ed- (“to eat”).^[7]
• Indo-Aryan: Sanskrit अत्ति (átti, “eats”), as listed by LIV.^[1]
• Greek: Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō, “to eat”).^[10]
• Italic: Latin edō (“to eat”).^[9]
• Celtic: Old Irish ithid (“eats”), as listed by LIV.^[1]
• Germanic: Proto-Germanic *etan- (“to eat”).^[3]
• Baltic: Lithuanian ėsti (“to eat, of animals”).^[15]
• Slavic: Old Church Slavonic ꙗсти (jasti, “to eat”).^[16]
• Armenian: Old Armenian ուտեմ (utem, “to eat”).^[17]
• Albanian: Albanian ha (“to eat”).^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *h₁ed-
2. ^ a b c d Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. *h₁ed-
3. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 119
4. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
6. ^ a b Kümmel, Martin Joachim, Addenda und Corrigenda zu LIV², online document, last change 16 June 2026, p. 34
7. ^ a b c Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 261
8. ^ Jasanoff, Jay H. (2003), Hittite and the Indo-European Verb, Oxford: OUP, p. 82
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. edō
10. ^ a b c d 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, p. s.v. ἔδω
11. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 91
12. ^ Smoczyński, Wojciech (2018), Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin: Peter Lang, p. 419
13. ^ Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), A Dictionary of Tocharian B, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 549
14. ^ Derksen, Rick (2015), Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 494
15. ^ Derksen, Rick (2015), Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 171
16. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 154
17. ^ Martirosyan, Hrach K. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 658
18. ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998), Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden / Boston / Köln: Brill, p. s.v. ha