ὀφείλω

ὀφείλω

Grammatical information: v.

Meaning: `to owe, to have to pay, to be obliged, to be due' (IA., also Il.)

Other forms: ὀφέλλω (Aeol., Arc., also Hom.), ὀφήλω (Cret., Arc., Arg.), aor. 1. ὀφειλ-ῆσαι, pass. -ηθῆναι, fut. -ήσω (hell. also -έσω), perf. ὠφείληκα (Att.), aor. 2. ὤφελον, ὄφελον (Il., Att.). Beside it ὀφρλισκάνω, fut. ὀφλ-ήσω, aor. 1. -ῆσαι, perf. ὤφληκα (Att.), ptc. dat. pl. Ϝοφληκόσι, 3. pl. [Ϝο]φλέασι (Arc.), aor. 2. ὀφλεῖν (IA.), also wit ἐπ-, προσ-, `to be guilty, to incur a punishment, to be sentenced'.

Dialectal forms: On Myc. opero etc. Lejeune Rev. ét. anc. 58, 19f. w. n. 58, BSL 52, 197 n. 5.

Compounds: Also w. prefix, e.g. προ-, προσ-.

Derivatives: A. From pres. ὀφείλω : ὀφειλ-έτης m., -έτις f. `debtor' (S., Pl.; Fraenkel Nom. ag. 1, 62 a. 241 f.) with -έσιον n. `small debt' (Eust.), -ημα n. (Th., Pl., Arist.; ὀφήλωμα [Cret.] after ἀνάλωμα), -ησις f. (pap. III^a) `debt, indebted sum'; -ή f. `debt, leasing' (pap., NT). B. From the aorist ὀφλεῖν : ὄφλ-ημα n. (D., Arist., pap.), -ησις f. (LXX) `penalty, fine'; -ητής m. `debtor' (gloss.), ὀφλοί ὀφειλέται, ὀφειλαί H.

Origin: IE [Indo-European]X [probably] [not in Pok.] *h₃bʰel- `owe, be obliged'

Etymology: The system ὀφλεῖν : ὀφλισκ-άνω : ὀφλήσω : ὤφληκα agrees with (except for the enlarging -άνω; Schwyzer 700) the group εὑρεῖν : εὑρίσκω, εὑρήσω, εὕρηκα; to this came the aorist ὀφλῆσαι (Lys. a. late); also [Ϝο]φλέ-ασι has the same enlarged zero grade without second. κ. Beside this system built on a zero grade themat. aorist stands another, based on the full grade aorist ὤφελον, to which came the nasal present *ὀφέλ-νω ( \> ὀφείλω, ὀφέλλω, ὀφήλω) like ἔτεμον : τέμνω. As the formation of the present ὀφείλω became unclear through the phonetic development, it could become the basis of another system. Also semantically the formal pairs went different ways. -- An old problem provides Ϝο- which appears only in an Arc. inscription. While some, e.g. Brugmann IF 29, 241 (cf. on οἴγνυμι), want to see in it a prefix (to Lat. au-, vē-, Skt. áva `away (from)'; diff. Vollgraff Mél. Bq 2, 339), others are inclined, e.g. Solmsen KZ 34, 450f., Fraenkel Phil. 97, 162, to see Ϝο- as reversed writing for ὀ- (further in Schwyzer 226 n. 1). -- Further quite isolated and dark; an attempt to connect ὀφείλω etc. with ὀφέλλω `augment' in v. Windekens Ling.Posn. 8, 35 ff. -- On the explanation of the individual forms Schwyzer 709 and 746 w. n. 9 (partly diff.), also Chantraine Gramm. hom. 1, 314 (w. lit.) a. 394;

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