μισθόομαι

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `hire, pay, wages, reward, daily wages' (Il.).

Compounds: Several compp., e.g. μισθο-δό-της m.. `who pays wages', - τέω, - σία (Att.), comp. of μισθὸν δοῦναι with τη-suffix, μισθο-φορέω `get wages' with - φόρος `who served for hire', - φορά `wages'; ἔμ-μισθος `being paid' (Att.).

Derivatives: Diminut. μισθάριον (Hp., com., pap.), adj. μίσθιος `hired' (hell.) and the verb μισθόομαι, - όω `hire for oneself', act. `hire' (IA.) with several derivv.: μίσθωμα `rent, rent agreed' (Att.), - ωμάτιον (Alciphr.), μίσθωσις `hiring' (Att.), - ώσιμος `which can be hired' (Lex. ap. D.; Arbenz 66), - ωσιμαῖος (gloss.); μισθωτός (direct from μισθός?) `with hire, hired, hireling, mercenary' (IA.), - ωτής m. `tenant' (Att.), f. - ώτρια (Phryn. Com.), - ωτικός `belonging to rent' (Pl., pap.), - ωτήριον `meetingplace of the μισθωτοί' (Ephesos II^p, H. s. ὄψ' ἦλθες).

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [746] * misdʰo- `salary'

Etymology: Old name for an old idea, preserved also in Indo-Iranian, Germanic and Slavic: Skt. mīḍhám n. `price in a match, match', Iran., e.g. Av. mižda- n. `wages', Germ., e.g. Goth. mizdo f. `wages', NHG Miete, Slav., e.g. OCS mьzda, Russ. mzdá f. `wages, hire, reward', IE *misdʰó-. Undemonstrable further analysis by Specht Ursprung 249 f. Because of the fem. gender of the Germ. and Slav. words Meillet MSL 21, 111 considers *mizdhó- as old fem.; but then the change of gender in μισθός is remarkable; cf. Kretschmer Glotta 12, 210, Schwyzer-Debrunner 34 n. 2. -- In the sense of `salary' μισθός was since hellenism replaced by ὀψώνιον (Chantraine Études 25 f.).

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