λύω
Etym. Dep.
Orig. sense, "to loose":
I. of things, "to loosen, unbind, unfasten", ζωστῆρα, θώρηκα Il.; ἀσκὸν λ. "to untie" a skin (used as a bottle), Od.; λ. ἡνίαν "to slack" the rein, Soph.; λ. γράμματα "to open" a letter, Eur.; στόμα λ. "to open" the mouth, id=Eur.; λ. ὀφρύν "to unfold" the brow, id=Eur., etc.:—Mid., ἐλύσατο ἱμάντα "undid her" belt, Il.; λύσασθαι τρίχα "to unbind one's" hair, Bion.
2. of living beings,
a. of horses, etc., "to undo, unyoke, unharness", Hom.; Mid., λύεσθαι ἵππους ὑπ᾽ ὄχεσφι "to unyoke one's" horses, Il.
b. of men, "to loose, release" from bonds or prison, from difficulty or danger, Hom., Att:—Mid. "to get" one "loosed or set free", Hes.
c. of prisoners, "to release on receipt of ransom" (ἄποινα), "hold to ransom, release", Hom.; λύειν τινὰ ἀποίνων "on payment of" ransom, Il.:—Mid. "to release by payment of ransom, to get a person released, to ransom, redeem", Hom., attic
3. "to give up", [θρόνον] λῦσον ἄμμιν Pind.
II. "to resolve a whole into its parts, to dissolve, break up", λ. ἀγορήν "to dissolve" the assembly, Hom.; also "to break up" the market, Xen.:— Pass., λῦτο ἀγών Il.; ἐλύθη ἡ στρατιά Xen.
2. "to loosen, slacken", σπάρτα λέλυνται, i. e. have "rotted", Il.
3. "to loosen", i. e. "weaken, relax", λῦσέ οἱ γυῖα "made" his limbs "slack or loose", i. e. "killed" him, id=Il.; λ. μένος τινί id=Il.; but, καμάτωι γούνατ᾽ ἔλυσαν "made" the knees "weak" with toil, Od.:—so in Pass., λύντο δὲ γυῖα, as the effect of death, sleep, weariness, fear, etc., Il., etc.; γυῖα λέλυντο Hom., etc.
4. "to undo, bring to naught, break down, destroy", Hom.: and generally, "to undo, do away with, put an end to", Lat. dissolvere, id=Hom., attic; λ. βίον, i. e. to die, Eur.
b. "to repeal, annul, do away with", Hdt., etc.; λ. ψῆφον "to rescind" a vote, Dem.:— Pass., λέλυται πάντα all "ties are broken", id=Dem.
c. "to solve" a problem or difficulty, Plat.
d. "to refute" an argument, Arist.
e. "to unravel" the plot of a tragedy, id=Arist.
5. "to break" a law or treaty, Hdt., Thuc.
III. "to solve, fulfil, accomplish", τὰ μαντεῖα Soph.
IV. "to atone for, make up for", Lat. luere, id=Soph., Eur.
V. μισθοὺς λύειν "to pay" wages "in full", Xen.
2. τέλη λύειν ῀ λυσιτελεῖν, "to pay, profit, avail", ἔνθα μὴ τέλη λύει φρονοῦντι where "it boots not" to be wise, Soph.; also λύει alone, much like λυσιτελεῖ, λύει ἄλγος Eur.; φημὶ τοιούτους γάμους λύειν βροτοῖς id=Eur.