αἴθω

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

 

• IPA^(key): /ǎi̯.tʰɔː/ → /ˈɛ.θo/ → /ˈe.θo/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ǎi̯.tʰɔː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.tʰo/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.θo/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.θo/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.θo/

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 [Μινύαι] 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 [the Minyae] came into their land [Laconia] 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 [describing the Chimaera]

   • 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

number		singular			dual		plural
		first	second	third	second	third	first	second	third
active	indicative	αἴθω	αἴθεις	αἴθει	αἴθετον	αἴθετον	αἴθομεν	αἴθετε	αἴθουσῐ(ν)
	subjunctive	αἴθω	αἴθῃς	αἴθῃ	αἴθητον	αἴθητον	αἴθωμεν	αἴθητε	αἴθωσῐ(ν)
	optative	αἴθοιμῐ	αἴθοις	αἴθοι	αἴθοιτον	αἰθοίτην	αἴθοιμεν	αἴθοιτε	αἴθοιεν
	imperative		αἶθε	αἰθέτω	αἴθετον	αἰθέτων		αἴθετε	αἰθόντων
middle/ passive	indicative	αἴθομαι	αἴθῃ, αἴθει	αἴθεται	αἴθεσθον	αἴθεσθον	αἰθόμεθᾰ	αἴθεσθε	αἴθονται
	subjunctive	αἴθωμαι	αἴθῃ	αἴθηται	αἴθησθον	αἴθησθον	αἰθώμεθᾰ	αἴθησθε	αἴθωνται
	optative	αἰθοίμην	αἴθοιο	αἴθοιτο	αἴθοισθον	αἰθοίσθην	αἰθοίμεθᾰ	αἴθοισθε	αἴθοιντο
	imperative		αἴθου	αἰθέσθω	αἴθεσθον	αἰθέσθων		αἴθεσθε	αἰθέσθων
		active				middle/passive
infinitive		αἴθειν				αἴθεσθαι
participle	m	αἴθων				αἰθόμενος
	f	αἴθουσᾰ				αἰθομένη
	n	αἶθον				αἰθόμενον
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.

   Present: αἴθω, αἴθομαι

number		singular			dual		plural
		first	second	third	second	third	first	second	third
active	indicative	ᾖθον	ᾖθες	ᾖθε(ν)	ᾔθετον	ᾐθέτην	ᾔθομεν	ᾔθετε	ᾖθον
middle/ passive	indicative	ᾐθόμην	ᾔθου	ᾔθετο	ᾔθεσθον	ᾐθέσθην	ᾐθόμεθᾰ	ᾔθεσθε	ᾔθοντο
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.

   Imperfect: ᾖθον, ᾐθόμην

Related terms

• αἰθήρ (aithḗr)

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

• “αἴθω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αἴθω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• αἴθω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• αἴθω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• αἴθω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “αἴθω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter