αὐτός

Forms

αὐτός (autós) (feminine αὐτή, neuter αὐτό)^[1] Cretan ἀϝτός, and Attic contracts ὁ αὐτός to αὑτός, neuter ταὐτό or ταὐτόν.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *autós (“self”).^[1] Its further origin is uncertain: Beekes derives it from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“again”) and the pronominal stem *to- (“that”), and Risch from Greek αὖ (aû, “again”) and τόν (tón).^[4][1] The DGE likewise explains it as two pronominal and adverbial elements, αὖ (aû) and the ⟨-το-⟩ of other pronouns, run together.^[5] Frisk points out that the grammatical sense “self” must have grown out of an older concrete use that is unknown, so that every etymology has limited value; he and Beekes mention a comparison with Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (auþs, “desolate”).^[6][4] Wiktionary lists Phrygian αυτος (autos) as an exact cognate.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on: the first lines of the Iliad already use it for the heroes' bodies, as against their souls.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was emphatic, “self”, setting a person or thing off from others: one's true self, the king as against his subjects, someone acting of his own accord or alone.^[2][3] In its oblique cases it served as the pronoun of the third person, “him, her, it”, while with the article it meant “the same”.^[2][3][4] Plato used it of an abstract idea taken in itself, such as justice itself.^[2]

In later Greek it was used for “he” in the nominative too, as in Luke's Gospel, and the papyri use it with the article for “the said, the above-named”.^[2] The New Testament still uses it mainly as an intensive “self”.^[8]

In the Middle Ages it became a plain demonstrative, and its unstressed forms were worn down (είδα αυτόν > είδα τον), which gave the clitic pronouns of Modern Greek.^[9] Modern Greek αυτός (aftós) now means both “he” and “this”.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for “self” and, in its oblique cases, for “him, her, it”.^[7][2]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it with ordinal numbers: “fifth himself” means with four others.^[2][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of an idea in itself.^[2][5]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use it with the article for “the above-named”.^[2]
• 1st century AD – Luke's Gospel uses its nominative for plain “he”.^[2]
• Modern Greek – αυτός (aftós) is both the personal pronoun “he” and a demonstrative.^[9]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. Self: himself, herself, itself, myself, yourself, emphasising that it is that person or thing and no other.^[2][3][8]
2. Of one's own accord; by oneself, alone.^[2]
3. (philosophy) By or in itself, of an abstract idea.^[2]
4. (in the oblique cases) Him, her, it, them; in later Greek also “he” in the nominative.^[2][3]
5. (with the article: ὁ αὐτός) The same.^[2][3]
6. (later Greek, with the article) The said, the above-named.^[2]

Word family

• αὐτογενής (autogenḗs)
• αὐτοδίδακτος (autodídaktos)
• αὐτόθεν (autóthen)
• αὐτόθι (autóthi)
• αὐτοκρατής (autokratḗs)
• αὐτοκράτωρ (autokrátōr)
• αὐτομολέω (automoléō)
• αὐτόνομος (autónomos)
• αὔτως (aútōs)
• ἑαυτοῦ (heāutoû)
• αὐτόματος (autómatos)

Related words

• αὖ (aû)

Usage notes

As the first element of compounds it means “of or by oneself”, as in αὐτοδίδακτος (autodídaktos) “self-taught” and αὐτόματος (autómatos), or “independent”, as in αὐτοκράτωρ (autokrátōr) and αὐτόνομος (autónomos).^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki