# ἐθέλω
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* θέλω (thélō)

### Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁gʷʰel- (“to wish”). Cognates include Proto-Slavic *želěti (“to wish, want”) (whence Old Church Slavonic желѣти (želěti)).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /e.tʰé.lɔː/ → /eˈθe.lo/ → /eˈθe.lo/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /e.tʰé.lɔː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /eˈtʰe.lo/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /eˈθe.lo/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /eˈθe.lo/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /eˈθe.lo/

### Verb

ἐθέλω • (ethélō)
* usually weaker than βούλομαι (boúlomai), of consent rather than desire: (intransitive) to be willing, to wish [with infinitive ‘to do something’]
** 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 118
** 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 1327
** 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 7:12
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.3
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.71
** 331 CE – 363 CE, Julian, Orations 1.132a
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.554
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 7.182
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 7.364
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.397
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.274
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.894
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 3.272
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 3.324
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 11.566
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 14.172
** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.50
** (Koine) to want, wish
*** 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 12:38
*** 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 20:21
*** The Gospel of Mark 3:13
*** The Gospel of Mark 7:24
*** 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 5:6
*** 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 9:27
* (with negative) to not care to, be unable
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.106
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.702
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.366
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 8.223
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 8.316
** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 230d
** 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Demeter 45
* (of inanimate objects)
** expressing future; to will, shall
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.109
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.11
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.49
*** Module:Quotations:526: attempt to compare number with nil
** to be naturally disposed; to be wont, accustomed
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Meteorology 347a5
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1013b27
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 575a28
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.74
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.50
*** 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, On Joints 41
*** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.89

#### Derived terms

* ἐθέλεχθρος (ethélekhthros)
* ἐθελόδουλος (ethelódoulos)
* ἐθελόκακος (ethelókakos)
* ἐθελοκίνδυνος (ethelokíndunos)
* ἐθελόκωφος (ethelókōphos)
* ἐθελοντηδόν (ethelontēdón)
* ἐθελοντήν (ethelontḗn)
* ἐθελοντήρ (ethelontḗr)
* ἐθελοντής (ethelontḗs)
* ἐθελοντί (ethelontí)
* ἐθελόντως (ethelóntōs)
* ἐθελόπονος (ethelóponos)
* ἐθελουργός (ethelourgós)
* ἐθελούσιος (etheloúsios)
* συνεθέλω (sunethélō)

#### Related terms

* ἀθέλητος (athélētos)
* ἐθελημός (ethelēmós)
* ἐθελήμων (ethelḗmōn)
* θέλεος (théleos)
* θέλημα (thélēma)
* θελημός (thelēmós)
* θελήμων (thelḗmōn)
* θέλησις (thélēsis)
* θελητής (thelētḗs)
* θελητός (thelētós)

#### Descendants

* Greek: θέλω (thélo)

#### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐθέλω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 377

### Further reading

* “ἐθέλω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “ἐθέλω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “ἐθέλω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* ἐθέλω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* “ἐθέλω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter