Etymologically

polim

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 23:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.

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