δέω

From Proto-Hellenic *deyō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₁- (“to bind”). Cognates include Sanskrit द्यति (dyati), Avestan 𐬥𐬍𐬛𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬙𐬄𐬨 (nīdiiātąm) and Albanian duaj.^[1]

• δέννω (dénnō)

δέω • (déō)

1. to bind, tie, fasten, fetter
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.443:

     ἠέ με δήσαντες λίπετ’ αὐτόθι νηλέϊ δεσμῷ

     ēé me dḗsantes lípet’ autóthi nēléï desmōî

     or bind me with a cruel bond and leave me here

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.475:

     ὠκέες ἵπποι ἐξ ἐπιδιφριάδος πυμάτης ἱμᾶσι δέδεντο

     ōkées híppoi ex epidiphriádos pumátēs himâsi dédento

     his swift horses were tethered by the reins to the topmost rim of the chariot

   1. (figuratively)
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 3.54:

        ἀλλὰ κέρδει καὶ σοφία δέδεται.

        allà kérdei kaì sophía dédetai.

        But even skill is enthralled by the love of gain.

   2. (middle voice) to tie onto oneself
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.44:

        ποσσὶ δ’ ὑπὸ λιπαροῖσιν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα

        possì d’ hupò liparoîsin edḗsato kalà pédila

        and beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals

   3. (with genitive) to hinder from
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.380:

        ἀλλὰ σύ πέρ μοι εἰπέ […] ὅς τίς μ’ ἀθανάτων πεδάᾳ καὶ ἔδησε κελεύθου

        allà sú pér moi eipé […] hós tís m’ athanátōn pedáāi kaì édēse keleúthou

        But do thou tell me […] who of the immortals fetters me here, and has hindered me from my path

   4. (medicine) to brace
      • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, In the Surgery 17

Unlike the other bisyllabic -έω verbs which contract only ε+ε and ε+ει, δέω, when meaning 'bind', occasionally contracts ε+ο, ε+ω.

• λῡ́ω (lū́ō)

• Greek: δένω (déno)

• “δέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• G1210 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Apparently from a Proto-Hellenic *dew(s)- (“to miss, want, need”) (without the *-s- if the earlier form was *δέϝω (*déwō), with the *-s- if the earlier form was *δεύσ-ω (*deús-ō)). In the latter case, perhaps cognate with Sanskrit दोष (doṣa, “fault, deficiency”). See also δῠσ- (dŭs-, “dys-, bad”), δεῖ (deî, “one must”).^[1]

• δεύω (deúō) — Aeolic, Epic

δέω • (déō)

1. to lack, need, require [with genitive ‘something, someone’]
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, The Statesman 277d:

     παραδείγματος […] αὖ μοι καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα αὐτὸ δεδέηκεν.

     paradeígmatos […] aû moi kaì tò parádeigma autò dedéēken.

     The very example I employ requires another example.

   1. with πολλοῦ (polloû) to be far from being able to do [with infinitive ‘something’]
      • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Apology 30d:

        πολλοῦ δέω ἐγὼ ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ ἀπολογεῖσθαι

        polloû déō egṑ hupèr emautoû apologeîsthai

        I am far from giving a defense for myself

   2. participle δέων (déōn)
      1. modifying a noun, with genitive of the number by which something is less than another thing: lacking a number: a number less than something, something minus a number; often used to express numbers ending in 8 or 9
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.14.1:

           δυῶν δέοντα τεσσεράκοντα ἔτεα

           duôn déonta tesserákonta étea

           forty minus two years; two less than forty years [= 38 years]

      2. with both the participle and the number in the genitive: genitive absolute: with a number lacking, a number less than
         • 3rd century CE, Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 5.27:

           πόλεων δυοῖν δεούσαιν ἑξήκοντα

           póleōn duoîn deoúsain hexḗkonta

           sixty cities with two lacking or two less than sixty [= 58 cities]

2. (middle voice, never impersonal, transitive) to lack, not have, or need [with genitive ‘something’]
   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 1148:

     ἐπεὶ τὰ σὰ δεῖται κολαστοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τοῦδ’ ἔπη.

     epeì tà sà deîtai kolastoû mâllon ḕ tà toûd’ épē.

     Your words need rebuking more than his.

   1. (intransitive) to need [with infinitive ‘to do something’]
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 392d:

        ἔτι δέομαι σαφέστερον μαθεῖν

        éti déomai saphésteron matheîn

        I still need to understand more plainly.

   2. (intransitive) to be in need

      οἱ δεόμενοι

      hoi deómenoi

      the needy

   3. (transitive) to beg [with genitive ‘something’ and genitive ‘from someone’; or with genitive ‘someone’ and infinitive ‘to do something’]
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.157.1:

        ἐπιτρέπεσθαι ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν τῶν ἐδέετο σφέων

        epitrépesthai hétoimoi êsan tôn edéeto sphéōn

        they were ready to entrust to him all that he asked from them

3. (construction)
   1. (peculiar Attic phrase)
      1. (οἴομαι δεῖν) to hold it necessary, think it one's duty
         • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 95C
         • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 207E
         • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 143
         • 338 BCE, Demosthenes, Funeral Speech 31
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 316C
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 2.6.26
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.6.3
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1152A.6
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1136B.8
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Hipparchus 225B
         • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 28
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Second Alcibiades 144D

The third person and non-finite forms are also used impersonally: see δεῖ (deî).

Other forms: δεοῦμαι (deoûmai) for δεήσομαι (deḗsomai) (Doric: Epicharmus, Collected Works 120).

This δέω, meaning “need”, follows the pattern of the -έω bisyllabic verbs: it contracts only to ει.

• → Greek: δέω (déo) (learned)

• “δέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “δέω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• δέω 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
• δέω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• δέω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “δέω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1163 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• δέω 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
• δέω, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

δέω • (déō)

1. alternative form of δήω (dḗō)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δέω (déō, “to need”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈðe.o/
• Hyphenation: δέ‧ω

δέω • (déo) (past εδέησα/δέησα, passive δέομαι)

1. (active voice, only in perfective stem) to make possible (dated, also used ironically) e.g.

   εδέησα (edéisa, past tense, retaining the old syllabic augment ε-)

   Εδέησε να μου επιστρέψει το βιβλίο που του είχα δανείσει.

   Edéise na mou epistrépsei to vivlío pou tou eícha daneísei.

   S/he finally (succeeded to) return the book I had lent him/her.

   1. (third person, impersonal) [with να (na)]

      Μετά την ξηρασία, εδέησε να βρέξει.

      Metá tin xirasía, edéise na vréxei.

      After the drought, it finally rained.

      Also see the ancient uncontracted δει (dei, “it is needed”)

2. (middle voice) See δέομαι (déomai, “pray to God”).

• δέηση f (déisi, “prayer”)
• δει (dei, “it is needed, it must”), δεῖ
• δεόμενος (deómenos, partitiple), fem. δεόμενη/δεομένη, neu. δεόμενο
• δεόντως (deóntos, adverb)
• δέων (déon, partitiple), fem. δέουσα, neu. δέον

Compounds (and see their related words)

• ανασυνδέω (anasyndéo, “reconnect”)
• αποσυνδέω (aposyndéo, “disconnect”)
• διασυνδέω (diasyndéo, “interconnect”)
• επανασυνδέω (epanasyndéo, “reconnect again”)
• συνδέω (syndéo, “connect”)

and

• ενδεής (endeḯs, “poor, needing”)
• δεοντολογία f (deontología, “code of ethics”)

Also see related words of δένω (déno) deriving from the second sense of δέω.

• the unrelated δέος n (déos, “awe”)