The corpus record

ὀπτάω

optao

to fry, roast, bake

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

Where it lives

Acharnians 4 · 5.63/10k
Tobias (cod. Vat. et Alex.) 1 · 1.9/10k
Birds 2 · 1.88/10k
Odyssey 12 · 1.38/10k
Peace 1 · 1.26/10k
Plutus 1 · 1.24/10k
Esdras I 1 · 1.22/10k
Hippias Major 1 · 1.18/10k
Knights 1 · 1.13/10k
Economics 2 · 1.12/10k
Frogs 1 · 1.1/10k
Euthydemus 1 · 0.8/10k

Densest 12 of 22 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. ὀπτάω · optaō — Beekes

ὀπτάω [ν.] ‘to fry, roast, bake’ (Od.). “VAR ὀπτεύμενος (Theoc.), aor. ὀπτῆσαι (IL), ὀπτηθῆναι (Od.), perf. ὥπτηκα, -ημαι (Euphro or Ar.), fut. ὀπτήσομαι (Luc.). «COMP Also with prefix, e.g. ἐπ- ἐξ-, κατ’, Tap-. *DER ὄπτησις [f.] ‘frying’ (Milete V*, Hp., Arist.), with ὀπτήσιμος ‘fit for frying’ (Eub.), ὀπτ-ήτειρα [f.] epithet of κάμινος (Call.), -πητήρια (H. as an explanation of ὦψά, alphabetically wrong, … — [Beekes, s.v. ὀπτάω, p. 1144]

2. ὀπτάω · optaō — LSJ

roast, broil, roast, broil, fry, fry, toast, cooking by means of fire, dry heat

roast, broil, κρέα ὤπτων Od. 3.33, etc. ; σπλάγχνα δʼ ἄρʼ ὀπτήσαντες ἐνώμων 20.252 ; ὤπτησάν τε περιφραδέως Il. 1.466, 2.429 : also c. gen. partit., ὀπτῆσαί τε κρεῶν roast some meat, Od. 15.98 ; then in Hdt. 9.120, Ar. Av. 1690, X. Cyr. 8.2.6, etc. ; broil or fry fish, Ar. Fr. l.c., Crates Com. 17, al.; fry an egg, PLit.Lond. 170 (i A. D.); toast cheese, Eub. 150.2.—Hence it appears that ὀπτᾶν was used of all kinds of cooking by means of fire or dry heat, opp. ἕψω (boil in water), which never ap

2 bake, bake, burn

bake bread, Hdt. 2.47 ; ὅκως ὀπτῷτο (v.l. ὀπτῴη) ὁ ἄρτος Id. 8.137, cf. X. An. 5.4.29; ὀπτᾶν πλακοῦντας Ar. Ra. 507 ; also of bricks or pottery, bake, burn, Hdt. 1.179 ; καλῶς ὠπτημένη [χύτρα] Pl. Hp.Ma. 288d; ὁ ὀπτώμενος κέραμος Arist. Mete. 383a21.

3 bake, scorch

bake, scorch, of the sun, ἐπεὶ τόκα μʼ ἅλιος ὀπτῇ Bion Fr. 15.12 ; ἡ γῆ ὀπτᾶται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου X. Oec. 16.14.

4 ‘roast’

metaph. (as we say), ‘roast’ a man, τοῦτον ὀπτᾶν καὶ στρέφειν Ar. Lys. 839, cf. Sopat. 6.9 (Pass.):—Pass., of the fire of love, ὀπτεύμενον ἐξ Ἀφροδίτας Theoc. 7.55, cf. 23.34, AP 12.92.7 (Mel.): so, prob., in Act., Sapph. 115.

In the wild

ὠπτημένη · ōptēmenē Aristophanes, Acharnians 1156 (DIORISIS sentence 893)
ὀπτωμένας · optōmenas Aristophanes, Acharnians (DIORISIS sentence 763)
ὀπτᾶτε · optate Aristophanes, Acharnians (DIORISIS sentence 791)
ὀπτᾶτε · optate Aristophanes, Acharnians (DIORISIS sentence 793)
ὀπτᾷς · optais Aristophanes, Birds 1 (DIORISIS sentence 1260)
ὀπτησάμενοι · optēsamenoi Aristophanes, Birds (DIORISIS sentence 445)

6 of 49 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. ὀπτάω (scan p. 1144; entry #4612).

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