ψάω

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Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

Traditionally compared to Sanskrit प्साति (psāti, to chew, eat, devour) and explained as vocalic enlargements from Proto-Indo-European *bʰes-, found in Sanskrit बभस्ति (babhasti, to chew, devour). Meier-Brügger links the word to Hittite (peš, to rub, scrub), which departs from the root *pes-. According to Beekes, the Indo-European explanations must be given up; the group of words is probably Pre-Greek, especially given the coexistence of ψαίω (psaíō), ψαύω (psaúō) and ψίω (psíō), which cannot be explained if we start from a PIE form.[1]

Pronunciation

 

Verb

ψάω (psáō)

  1. to touch lightly, rub, wipe, rub smooth
  2. (intransitive) to crumble away, vanish, disappear

Inflection

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ψῆν”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1665-6

Further reading