λίαν + ἕζομαι
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λίσσεσθαι
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
lissomai
English translation (word)
to beg, to pray
Transliteration (Etymon)
lian + hezomai
English translation (etymon)
very much + to sit
Century
5 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, lambda, p. 91
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Λίσσεσθαι. παρὰ τὸ λίαν ἕζεσθαι.
Translation (En)
Lissomai "to beg": from hezomai ("to sit") lian ("very much").
Parallels
Etymologicum Parvum, lambda 18 (Λιτανεύω· παρὰ τὸ λιτή, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ λίσσω τὸ ἱκετεύω, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ λίαν καὶ τὸ ἵζω τὸ κάθημαι) ; Epimerismi Homerici Il. 1.15b2 (λίσσομαι: παρὰ τὸ λίαν ἵζω. τὸ θέμα λίσσω, ὁ μέλλων λίσω); Etymologicum Gudianum, p.371,36 = Epimerismi Homerici Il. 1.15b2; Etymologicum Gudianum, p. 371, 52 (Λιτανεύω, παρὰ τὸ λιτὴ, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ λίσσω τὸ ἱκετεύω, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ λίαν καὶ τὸ ἵζω τὸ καθέζομαι); Etymologicum Magnum, p. 567, 23 = Epimerismi Homerici Il. 1.15b2; Schol. in Sophoclem, Ajax, 368c (λίσσομαι τὸ παρακαλῶ παρὰ τὸ λίαν ἵζω. ὁ γὰρ παρακαλῶν ἐμμένει πρὸς τὸν παρακαλούμενον)
Modern etymology
Within Greek, belongs with λιταί "prayers", λιτανός "begging", from a root *sleit-. No certain cognates outside Greek (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has the noun λιτή "nightly prayer", but the verb no longer exists
Entry By
Arthur de Tocqueville
Comment
Compositional etymology implying several formal changes. The identification of the first syllable as a prefix (even though λίαν is never used in composition) is frequent in Greek etymologies. From the semantic point of view, the etymology probably relies on a cultural feature, namely, the supplicant's gesture, sitting at the knees of the god's statue.