αἴθω

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word αἴθω. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word αἴθω, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say αἴθω in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word αἴθω you have here. The definition of the word αἴθω will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofαἴθω, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *áitʰō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- (burn; fire).

Cognate with Latin aestus, aestās, and aedis, and Sanskrit इन्द्धे (inddhé, to light, set on fire).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Verb

αἴθω (aíthō) (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Doric)

  1. (transitive) to ignite, kindle, light
    • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 4.145.4:
      οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ... πέμψαντες τὸ δεύτερον εἰρώτων τί θέλοντες ἥκοιέν τε ἐς τὴν χώρην καὶ πῦρ αἴθοιεν.
      hoi dè Lakedaimónioi ... pémpsantes tò deúteron eirṓtōn tí thélontes [Minúai] hḗkoién te es tḕn khṓrēn kaì pûr aíthoien.
      The Lacedaemonians sent a second time and asked what with what intention came into their land and lit a fire.
  2. (rarely intransitive, more commonly in the middle voice) to burn, blaze
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.182:
      δεινὸν ἀποπνείουσα πυρὸς μένος αἰθομένοιο
      deinòn apopneíousa puròs ménos aithoménoio
      breathing out the terrible strength of burning fire
    • 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1470–1471:
      αἰθέσθω δὲ πῦρ / προχύταις καθαρσίοισι
      aithésthō dè pûr / prokhútais katharsíoisi
      let the fire burn for the purifying meal
    • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 6.3.19:
      οἱ δὲ ἱππεῖς ... ἔκαιον, καὶ οἱ πελτασταὶ ... ἔκαιον πάντα ὅσα καύσιμα ἑώρων, καὶ ἡ στρατιὰ δέ, εἴ τινι παραλειπομένῳ ἐντυγχάνοιεν: ὥστε πᾶσα ἡ χώρα αἴθεσθαι ἐδόκει καὶ τὸ στράτευμα πολὺ εἶναι.
      hoi dè hippeîs ... ékaion, kaì hoi peltastaì ... ékaion pánta hósa kaúsima heṓrōn, kaì hē stratià dé, eí tini paraleipoménōi entunkhánoien: hṓste pâsa hē khṓra aíthesthai edókei kaì tò stráteuma polù eînai.
      The horsemen began to set fire, and the light troops burned anything that was flammable, and the army did the same, if they happened upon anything left behind, so that it seemed like the whole country was burning and the army was huge.

Usage notes

The Iliad and Odyssey only use forms of the participle αἰθόμενος (aithómenos, burning).

Inflection

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “αἴθω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 37

Further reading