ἀμαλδύνω

Uncertain. By surface analysis, *ἀμαλδύς (*amaldús) +‎ -ύνω (-únō). The linguist Lucien van Beek suggests that the hypothetical adjective *(ἀ)μαλδύς (*(a)maldús) may reflect a Proto-Indo-European adjective *ml̥d-ús (“weak, flaccid”), from the root *(s)meld-, which he reconstructs with the meaning “to become weak, soft”.

The French linguist Charles de Lamberterie argues that the initial ἀ- (a-) may have emerged under the influence of ἀμαθύνω (amathúnō, “to turn into dust”). Van Beek proposes that the terms ἀμαλός (amalós) and ἀμαυρός (amaurós) may have influenced the term.

Beekes considers the connections to βλαδεῖς (bladeîs, “most powerless”), βλαδαρόν (bladarón, “flaccid, porous”) – which would infer the late addition of privative ἀ- (a-) – and ἀμαλός (amalós, “weak, soft”) unlikely. He also rules out connection with μέλδομαι (méldomai, “to smelt”), but points out the variant ἀμέλδειν (améldein), wondering if there has been an old interchange *h₂m-/*sm-. According to Beekes, Nikolaev (2005) and others have connected the word to ἀμβλύς (amblús, “blunt, dim, faint (of sight)”).

Lamberterie suggests that the Greek word could have faithfully preserved the original meaning of the Proto-Indo-European term, and that the other Indo-European cognates derived from another term meaning “crushed, pulverized”. However, van Beek suggests it is unlikely the other Indo-European cognates—such as Old Armenian մեղկ (mełk)—unanimously underwent a semantic shift from “crushed” into “weak”. Instead, van Beek proposes that the Ancient Greek adjective *(ἀ)μαλδύς (*(a)maldús) evolved to mean “soft, porous”, whence a factitive verb meaning “to destroy”.

ἀμᾰλδῠ́νω • (amăldŭ́nō)

1. to crush, destroy, weaken
   • c. 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Illiad 12.15-18:

     πέρθετο δὲ Πριάμοιο πόλις δεκάτῳ ἐνιαυτῷ, Ἀργεῖοι δʼ ἐν νηυσὶ φίλην ἐς πατρίδʼ ἔβησαν, δὴ τότε μητιόωντο Ποσειδάων καὶ Ἀπόλλων τεῖχος ἀμαλδῦναι ποταμῶν μένος εἰσαγαγόντες

     pértheto dè Priámoio pólis dekátōi eniautōî, Argeîoi d’ en nēusì phílēn es patríd’ ébēsan, dḕ tóte mētióōnto Poseidáōn kaì Apóllōn teîkhos amaldûnai potamôn ménos eisagagóntes

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 380-381:

     ἀλλʼ ὦ μέλʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἀμαλδυνθήσομαι, εἰ μὴ τετορήσω ταῦτα καὶ λακήσομαι

     all’ ô mél’ hupò toû Diòs amaldunthḗsomai, ei mḕ tetorḗsō taûta kaì lakḗsomai

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. to soften, mitigate, alleviate
   • 300 CE – 400 CE, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 13.399-402:

     ἄφαρ δ’ ὅ γε λήσατο πάντων ὅσσά οἱ ἐν λεχέεσσιν ἐνήλιτε κουριδίοισι· πάντα γὰρ ἠμάλδυνε θεὴ Κύπρις ἥ περ ἁπάντων ἀθανάτων δάμνησι νόον θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων

     áphar d’ hó ge lḗsato pántōn hóssá hoi en lekhéessin enḗlite kouridíoisi; pánta gàr ēmáldune theḕ Kúpris hḗ per hapántōn athanátōn dámnēsi nóon thnētôn t’ anthrṓpōn

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. to neglect, waste, squander
4. (figuratively) to conceal, disguise

• “ἀμαλδύνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀμαλδύνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀμαλδύνω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀμαλδύνω in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀμαλδύνω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀμαλδύνω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἀμαλδύνω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 80
• Lucien van Beek (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache‎^[1], Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 173-175
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 716-717
• Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (25 October 2012), The Development of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Greek‎^[2], Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 42