The corpus record

τέγγω

teggo

to wet, moisten, pour out, soften

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

Where it lives

Persians 3 · 5.89/10k
Prometheus Bound 2 · 3.4/10k
Suppliants 2 · 2.84/10k
Antigone 2 · 2.73/10k
Electra 2 · 2.65/10k
Iphigenia in Tauris 2 · 2.41/10k
Iphigenia in Aulis 2 · 2.24/10k
Helen 2 · 2.04/10k
Hecuba 1 · 1.4/10k
Trachiniae 1 · 1.38/10k
Ajax 1 · 1.27/10k
Philoctetes 1 · 1.14/10k

Densest 12 of 18 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. τέγγω · tengō — Beekes

τέγγω [v.] ‘to wet, moisten, pour out, soften’ (Pi. B., LA; mostly poetic). 41Ὲ *teng- ‘wet, moisten’> VAR Aor. τέγξαι, pass. τεγχθῆναι, fut. τέγξω. eCOMP Rarely with ém-. *DER τέγξις (éni-) [f.] ‘moistening’ (medic.), τεγκτός (éni-) ‘softenable by moistening’ (Arist., medic.). *ETYM A primary verb identical with Lat. tingd [v.] ‘to wet, immerse, dip, paint’ (from *tengé; tingud after ungud). A secondary zero grade … — [Beekes, s.v. τέγγω, p. 1508]

2. τέγγω · tengō — Chantraine

τέγγω : aor. inf. τέγξαι, pass. τεγχθῆναι, fut. τέγξω ; «mouiller, tremper, humidifier ν, parfois «amollir en mouillant » (Pi., B., poètes, rare en prose proprement attique), distingué de βρέχω (Gal. 10, 808); parfois avec des préverbes : ἐπι-, ἀπο-, κατα-. Dérivés : nom d'action τέγξις f. « fait d’imbiber, d'humidifier » (Hp., médec.), aussi avec ἐπί-ὀ (Hp.); adjectif verbal τεγκτός et ἐπί- {Arist., médec.), en … — [Chantraine, s.v. τέγγω, p. 1117]

3. τέγγω · tengō — LSJ

wet, moisten, to be moistened

wet, moisten, τέγγε πλεύμονας οἴνῳ Alc. l.c.; ἀκρήτῳ πνεύμονα τεγγόμενος Eratosth. 25; οἴνῳ πνεύμονα τέγγε Poet. ap. Suid. s.v. τέγγε; τέγγει γὰρ [τὸ ἔλαιον] τὸν ξηρὸν χρῶτα Gal. 6.229, cf. 366,560, 15.714; esp. of internal moistening by liquid food, opp. βρέχω (moisten on the surface), Id. 10.808, 12.186 (the word is not freq. in Prose); φάρεα ποταμίᾳ δρόσῳ τ., so as to wash them, E. Hipp. 127 (lyr.); ἐν θαλάττῃ τ. τοὺς πόδας Pl. Lg. 866d:—in Trag. and Lyr. freq. of tears, δάκρυσι κόλπους τέγγο

2 shed, fell

c. acc. cogn., τ. δάκρυα shed tears, Pi. N. 10.75; ἁδινῶν χλωρὰν τέγγει δακρύων ἄχναν S. Tr. 848 (lyr.):—Pass., ὄμβρος χάλαζά θʼ αἱματοῦσσʼ ἐτέγγετο a shower fell, Id. OT 1279.

3 soak

soak, in Pass., distd. from τήκεσθαι, Arist. Mete. 385b22; τέγγει is prob. f.l. for στέγει in Id. Pr. 869b25.

II soften, by soaking, bathing, thou art, softened

soften (properly, by soaking or bathing), ἀοιδαὶ θέλξαν νιν ἁπτόμεναι· οὐδὲ θερμὸν ὕδωρ τόσον γε μαλθακὰ τέγξει (sic Plu. Tranq. 2.467d, τεύχει codd. Pi.) γυῖα (i.e. ὥστε μαλθακὰ γενέσθαι) Pi. N. 4.4:—metaph. in Pass., τέγγει γὰρ οὐδέν thou art no whit softened, A. Pr. 1008; οὔτε γὰρ . . λόγοις ἐτέγγεθʼ ἥδε νῦν τʼ οὐ πείθεται E. Hipp. 303; χωρεῖτʼ ὀργῇ καὶ μὴ τέγγεσθʼ Ar. Lys. 550; ὑπὸ κακοδοξίας τέγγεσθαι Pl. R. 361c, cf. Lg. 880e.

III dye, stain

dye, stain: metaph., οὐ ψεύδεϊ τέγξω λόγον Pi. O. 4.19. (Cf. Lat. tingo.)

In the wild

ἔτεγγʼ · etengʼ Aeschylus, Persians 314–317
τέγγουςʼ · tengousʼ Aeschylus, Persians 537–540
τέγγομαί · tengomai Aeschylus, Persians 1065
ἔτεγξα · etenxa Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 400–402
τέγγῃ · tengēi Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1008
τέγγει · tengei Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 8.2 (DIORISIS sentence 7559)

6 of 28 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. τέγγω (scan p. 1508; entry #5984). Root candidates: *teng-.
Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. τέγγω (scan p. 1117; entry #7883).

Ask the librarian

Ask about τέγγω →