# ἀγαπάω
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* ἀγαπέω (agapéō) — Doric
* ἀγαπάζω (agapázō) — Epic, Lyric

### Etymology

A Proto-Indo-European etymology as a compound *m̥ǵh₂-peh₂- (from *méǵh₂- (“great”) +‎ *peh₂- (“to protect”), literally “[provide] great protection”) was proposed by Pinault in 1991.
Previous scholars have proposed non-Indo-European comparisons, including:
* Semantically, Semitic offers a match in Hebrew אָהַב (ʾāháḇ), and Arabic أَحَبَّ (ʔaḥabba). This Semitic, in turn, is suggested by Saul Levin to be a borrowing since the Hebrew has a variant עָגַב (ʿāḡáḇ), also Ugaritic deviates with the form 𐎀𐎅𐎁 (ảhb), but it must be admonished against this that the root ح ب ب (ḥ b b) is well-developed and well-used in Arabic.
* Friedrich Cornelius believed that ἀγαπάω was borrowed from the precursor of Abkhaz а-гәаԥха-ра (a-gʷapxa-ra, “to like, wish, love”), though a better match could be Adyghe гуапэ (gʷapɛ), Kabardian гуапэ (gʷapɛ, “nice, cordial, pleasurable”), all three containing the Northwest Caucasian word for “heart” (compare Adyghe гу (gʷu)).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /a.ɡa.pá.ɔː/ → /a.ɣaˈpa.o/ → /a.ɣaˈpa.o/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /a.ɡa.pá.ɔː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /a.ɡaˈpa.o/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /a.ɣaˈpa.o/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /a.ɣaˈpa.o/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /a.ɣaˈpa.o/

### Verb

ᾰ̓γᾰπᾰ́ω • (ăgăpắō) (chiefly Attic, Doric, Koine)
* (Tragic Greek) to show affection for the dead
* (transitive) to treat with affection, be fond of, love
* (passive voice) to be beloved
* (transitive, rare) to caress, pet
* (ambitransitive) to be pleased with, take pleasure in, like
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.289–290:οὐκ ἀγαπᾷς […] μεθ’ ἡμῖν δαίνυσαιouk agapâis […] meth’ hēmîn daínusaiAren't you pleased to dine with us?
* (New Testament, transitive) to show brotherly love or agape to

#### Synonyms

* ἐράω (eráō)
* στέργω (stérgō)
* φιλέω (philéō)

#### Derived terms

* ἀγάπη (agápē)
* ἀγαπητός (agapētós)
* Ἀγαπητός (Agapētós)
* Ἀγάπιος (Agápios)

#### Related terms

* ἀγαπάζω (agapázō)

#### Descendants

* Greek: αγαπώ (agapó), αγαπάω (agapáo)
* Mariupol Greek: агапу́ (ahapú)

### References

* ↑ Pinault, Georges-Jean (1991). “Grandeur et excès. Avatars du morphème ἀγα‑ dans le lexique et le discours”. Revue de Philologie 65, 195–218.
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀγαπάω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 8
* ↑ Szemerényi, Oswald (1971) “Pierre Chantraine: Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: Histoire des mots”, in Gnomon‎, volume 43, page 650
* ↑ Szemerényi, Oswald (1974) “The origins of the Greek lexicon: Ex Oriente Lux”, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies‎, volume 94, →DOI, page 150
* ↑ Levin, Saul (1995) Semitic and Indo-European. The Principal Etymologies. With Observations on Afro-Asiatic (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory; 129), volume I, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, page 292
* ↑ Cornelius, Friedrich (1960) Geistesgeschichte der Frühzeit. Von der Eiszeit bis zur Erfindung der Keilschrift, volume I, Leiden, Köln: E.J. Brill, pages 205–6
* ↑ Chirikba, Viacheslav A. (1996) A Dictionary of Common Abkhaz‎, Leiden, pages 36–37

### Further reading

* “ἀγαπάω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “ἀγαπάω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “ἀγαπάω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* ἀγαπάω 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
* ἀγαπάω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* ἀγαπάω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “ἀγαπάω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G25 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* ἀγαπάω in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften