αὐθεντικός

Forms

αὐθεντῐκός (authentikós) m (feminine αὐθεντῐκή, neuter αὐθεντῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs) + -ικός (-ikós), from the noun for ‘one who acts himself, perpetrator’.^[1][2][3]

αὐθέντης (authéntēs) meant ‘author, perpetrator’ and, in Herodotus, ‘murderer’.^[4] In Beekes's view it is a compound of αὐτός (autós, “self”) and an agent noun *ἕντης (*héntēs), shown by the forms αὐτοέντης (autoéntēs) in Sophocles and συνέντης (sunéntēs, “helper”) in Hesychius, from the full grade of the root of ἀνύω (anúō, “to accomplish”), Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *senh₂- (“to accomplish”).^[4][1] Beekes doubts that the sense ‘murderer’ began as a euphemism.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example, in an inscription from Mylasa of the 2nd century BC, has the sense ‘independent, sovereign’.^[5] In the papyri from the 1st century AD it describes a document as authentic, an original in the writer's own hand.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses the adverb αὐθεντικῶς in Greek in his letters to Atticus, of news given on good authority.^[6][5] In the papyri of the Roman period the word is a legal term for the original of a will, receipt or letter, and the neuter τὸ αὐθεντικόν is ‘the original document’, while Second Clement sets the original against the copy.^[5][6][2] Ptolemy uses it for what has authority, and Christian writers such as Basil and Gregory of Nyssa for the sovereign power of God.^[5] The Geoponica call the winds of the four cardinal points the ‘principal’ winds.^[6][5]

It was borrowed as Latin authenticus, the source, with Old French autentique, of English authentic in the mid-14th century.^[3] Medieval vernacular Greek used it, also as αφεντικός, for what belonged to a lord or ruler: princely, splendid, excellent, and the sultan's; the neuter αφεντικό (afentikó) still lives on.^[7] Modern Greek αυθεντικός (afthentikós) ‘genuine, authentic’ is a learned form of the Hellenistic word.^[8]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – An inscription from Mylasa uses it in the sense ‘independent, sovereign’.^[5]
• 1st century BC – Cicero uses the adverb in Greek for speaking or reporting with authority.^[6][5]
• 1st century AD – Papyri from Oxyrhynchus use it for an authentic handwritten document.^[5][6]
• 2nd century AD – Second Clement contrasts the original with the copy, and Ptolemy uses it for what has authority.^[2][9][5]
• 4th century AD – Basil and Gregory of Nyssa use it of the sovereign power of God.^[5]
• 10th century AD – The Geoponica call the cardinal winds ‘principal’ with it.^[6][5]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it, also as αφεντικός, for what belongs to a lord.^[7]
• Mid-14th century – English borrows authentic from Old French and Medieval Latin.^[3]
• Modern Greek – The learned αυθεντικός (afthentikós) means genuine, authentic.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Authentic, original, autograph, of a document; as a noun, the original document.^[6][5][2]
2. Principal; of the winds of the four cardinal points.^[6][5]
3. Sovereign, independent; authoritative, especially of the power of God.^[5][6]

Adverb

1. (αὐθεντικῶς) With authority; in the comparative, with higher authority.^[6][5]

Related words

• αὐθέντης (authéntēs)
• Latin authenticus
• English authentic
• Modern Greek αφεντικό (afentikó)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux