ἀκμή Ancient Greek · revision 2232

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *h₂eḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ak.mɛ̌ː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /akˈmi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /akˈmi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ᾰ̓κμή''' (akmḗ) ''f'' (genitive ᾰ̓κμῆς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Doric ἀκμά.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*akmā́]],^(Wiktionary) a derivative in -μή of the root [[m|ine-pro|*h₂eḱ-|t=sharp, pointed]], the element ἀκ- also found in [[ἀκή|tr=akḗ|t=point]], [[ἀκίς|tr=akís|t=point, barb]], [[ἄκρος|tr=ákros|t=topmost]] and [[ἄκων|tr=ákōn|t=javelin]].^(Wiktionary)^(Frisk 1960)^(DGE)^(Etygram)

+

+ Its accusative ἀκμήν was used as an adverb, “just, still”, the source of Modern Greek [[m|el|ακόμη|tr=akómi|t=still, yet]].^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer has it once, in the saying that a decision stands “on the razor's edge”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(DGE)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Greek it is the edge or point of a weapon or of teeth, in Pindar and Euripides, and in Aeschylus and Sophocles the extremity of the hands or feet.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE) The razor's edge remained proverbial in Theognis and Herodotus.^(DGE)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ From the point came the highest point of anything, its prime: the prime of youth in Sophocles, the prime of body and mind in Plato, the ripeness of corn and the flower of a navy in Thucydides, the height of summer in Xenophon, and the crisis of a disease in the Hippocratic writers.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) It could also mean vigour and strength, in Pindar.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Like [[καιρός|tr=kairós]] it was the right or critical moment, often in tragedy and in Demosthenes.^(LSJ 1940) Later rhetoricians used it for the climax of a speech, and a medical writer for an eruption on the face.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ The Septuagint has it for the prime, the culminating point and the best time.^(Lust 2003) In Modern Greek [[m|el|ακμή|tr=akmí]] is the peak of a development, an edge in geometry, after English ''edge'', and the skin disease acne.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etygram) English ''acme'' is recorded from the 1560s and was written in Greek letters until about 1620.^(Etymonline) ''Acne'' comes from a 6th-century misreading of its plural ἀκμάς.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' has “on the razor's edge”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the edge of a sword and for vigour.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for ripe corn.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of the prime of body and mind.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for a critical moment.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1560s – English ''acme'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A point or [[m|en|edge]]; ἐπὶ ξυροῦ ἀκμῆς, on the razor's edge.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The extremity of a hand or foot.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ # The highest point, prime, [[m|en|zenith]], especially of life; ripeness.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The height of a season; the crisis of a disease.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Vigour, strength.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The right or critical moment.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(rhetoric)'' A climax.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(medicine)'' An eruption on the face.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἀκμάζω|tr=akmázō]]

+ * [[ἐπακμάζω|tr=epakmázō]]

+ * [[παρακμάζω|tr=parakmázō]]

+ * [[παρακμή|tr=parakmḗ]]

+ * [[συνακμάζω|tr=sunakmázō]]

+ * [[ἀπακμάζω|tr=apakmázō]]

+ * [[ἀπακμή|tr=apakmḗ]]

+ * [[ἐνακμάζω|tr=enakmázō]]

+ * [[ἐξακμάζω|tr=exakmázō]]

+ * [[προακμάζω|tr=proakmázō]]

+ * [[ὑπακμάζω|tr=hupakmázō]]

+ * [[ὑπερακμάζω|tr=huperakmázō]]

+ * [[ἀκμάζω|tr=akmázō]]

+ * [[ἀκμαῖος|tr=akmaîos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἄκρος|tr=ákros]]

+ * [[en|acme]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The DGE records a doubtful second ἀκμή, “fasting”, said to be Aeolic, which may have been invented to explain [[ἄκμηνος|tr=ákmēnos]].^(DGE) Ancient grammarians derived ἀκμή from the privative ἀ- and κάμνω “to grow weary”, as “what does not tire”.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}