The corpus record

μαιμάω

maimao

to be very eager, quiver with eagerness

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Suppliant Maidens 1 · 2.07/10k
Ajax 1 · 1.27/10k
Iliad 6 · 0.54/10k
Rhetoric 2 · 0.47/10k
Histories 1 · 0.05/10k

What it meant — LSJ

to be very eager, quiver with eagerness, rages, eager for, rushed into, were suddenly changed into

Poet. Verb (Hom. only in Il.), to be very eager, quiver with eagerness, μαίμησε δέ οἱ φίλον ἦτορ Il. l.c.; μαιμώωσι πόδες καὶ χεῖρες 13.75; περὶ δούρατι χεῖρες ἄαπτοι μαιμῶσιν ib. 78; μαιμώων ἔφεπʼ ἔγχεϊ 15.742: metaph., of a spear, αἰχμὴ δὲ διέσσυτο μαιμώωσα 5.661, cf. 15.542; δεινὸν μαιμώοντα Orac. ap. Hdt. 8.77: c. inf., λὶς μαιμώων χροὸς ἆσαι Theoc. 25.253, cf. Lyc. 529, etc.: not common in Trag., μαιμᾷ ὄφις the snake rages, A. Supp. 895 (lyr.): c. gen., χεῖρα μαιμῶσαν φόνου eager for murder

In the wild

μαιμᾷ · maimai Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens 895
μαιμώωσα · maimōōsa Aristotle, Rhetoric 3
μαιμᾶν · maiman Aristotle, Rhetoric 3
μαιμώοντα · maimōonta Herodotus, Histories 8.77.1 (DIORISIS sentence 8872)
μαιμώωσι · maimōōsi Iliad 13.75
μαιμῶσιν · maimōsin Iliad 13.78

6 of 11 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. μαιμάω (scan pp. 942-943; entry #3866).
Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. μαιμάω (scan p. 675; entry #4990).
Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. μαιμάω (scan pp. 1131-1132; entry #3679).

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