ῥάσσω

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Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

There is no certain etymology.

Since a consonant must have been lost before the initial ῥ- (rh-), a pre-form *ϝρᾱ́χ-ιω (*wrā́kh-iō) (compare ῥαχία (rhakhía, flood tide; roar of the breakers)) can perhaps be identified with Proto-Slavic *raziti (to smite, pound), and derive from a Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ- (to strike, pound). The Slavic word, however, has also been connected with *rězati (to cut, slice), which is related to ῥήγνῡμι (rhḗgnūmi, to break); these forms derive instead from a different, albeit superficially similar, root *wreh₁ǵ-.

The semantically attractive connection with ἀράσσω (arássō, to smite, dash) would require a pre-form *warakʰ-, but for ἀράσσω (arássō), there is no indication for ϝ- (w-).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Verb

ῥᾱ́σσω (rhā́ssō)

  1. to strike, dash
  2. (of dancers) to beat the ground, dance

Inflection

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ῥᾱ́σσω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1276

Further reading