# τέλλω
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

The fusion of two pre-Greek verbs:
* The sense 'to rise' is from Proto-Hellenic *telne-, from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥-n-h₂-, a nasal-infixed present (the present tense system includes a N progressive aspect marker) from the root Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to lift, take on”), cognate with Armenian թողնել (tʻoġnel, “to let, allow”), Latin tollō (“to lift, carry away”), Old Irish tlenaid (“to carry away, steal”), Tocharian B tallaṃ (“to lift, endure”).
* The sense 'to accomplish' is from Proto-Hellenic *kʷelne-, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥-n-h₁-, also a nasal-infixed present from the root Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn”), cognate with Welsh pallu (“to fail; to refuse”), Tocharian A källāṣ (“to lead, bring”), Albanian përkul (“to bend”). The meaning in Greek developed from 'to turn' > 'to go in a circle' (eg stars) > 'to carry out to the end'.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tél.lɔː/ → /ˈtel.lo/ → /ˈte.lo/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /tél.lɔː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈtel.lo/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈtel.lo/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈtel.lo/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈte.lo/

### Verb

τέλλω • (téllō)
* (poetic, Cretan) to accomplish, perform
* to rise (of stars) = ἀνατέλλω (anatéllō)
* (περιτέλλομαι (peritéllomai) only) to turn around in circles

#### Usage notes

This verb usually occurs with a prefix, see under Derived terms

#### Derived terms

* ἀνατέλλω (anatéllō)
* ἐντέλλω (entéllō)
* ἐπιτέλλω (epitéllō)
* περιτέλλομαι (peritéllomai)
* τέλος (télos)
* ὑπερτέλλω (hupertéllō)
* ὑποτέλλομαι (hupotéllomai)

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τέλλω 2”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1462
* ↑ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 622
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τέλλω 3”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1462
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τέλλομαι 1”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1461-2
* ↑ Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “τέλλω”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 870
* ↑ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 386

### Further reading

* “τέλλω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “τέλλω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “τέλλω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* τέλλω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* τέλλω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* τέλλω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “τέλλω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* “τέλλω”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011