Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word polim

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1894 Weigand's glossary
Borrowed from
Modern Greek πόλεμος
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek πόλεμος

Pronunciation

Forms

polim n (plural pulemati or pulemate)[1]

  • Plural pulemati or pulemate.[2][1]
  • Other spellings: PÓLIM, plural pulémate, in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] POLIM, plural polime, from P. Papahagi, and polem from Nikolaidis, in Pascu;[4] polem in Weigand.[5]
  • Regional forms: pólemu, plural polémate, in the dialect of Metsovo.[6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”).[3][4][1] Medieval Greek had πόλεμος, also πόλομος (pólomos), for an armed conflict.[7]

The Greek word goes back to Ancient Greek πόλεμος (pólemos, “battle, war”), already in Homer, with an epic variant πτόλεμος (ptólemos).[8][9] Babiniotis reports the usual derivation from an ablaut grade of the root of πελεμίζω (pelemízō, “to shake, brandish”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to push, strike”);[8] Beekes finds that link semantically unattractive and takes the alternation of initial p- and pt- as a sign of a Pre-Greek origin.[9]

Semantic evolution

The word means war,[10][3][1] and figuratively a fight or quarrel between two people or two views.[10] P. Papahagi's tales have mută polim "raises a war" and trag tu polim "they set out for war".[11]

Timeline

  • 1894 – polem “war” in Weigand's glossary.[5]
  • 1905 – polim “war” in the glossary of P. Papahagi's tales.[11]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Greek πόλεμος.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. War.[10][3][1]
  2. (figurative) A fight or quarrel between two people or two views.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 844
  3. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 871
  4. ^ a b c Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 2, 78
  5. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 325
  6. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
  7. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 1188
  9. ^ a b 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
  10. ^ a b c d Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  11. ^ a b Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 681

Related etymologies

  • am · also from Greek
  • aerã · also from Greek
  • hoarã · also from Greek
  • chiro · also from Greek
  • anamã · also from Greek
  • tora · also from Greek
  • prot · also from Greek
  • has · also from Greek
Cite this entry

“Polim.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/polim. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·