βλασφημία

Forms

βλᾰσφημῐ́ᾱ (blasphēmíā) f (genitive βλᾰσφημῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary takes it as from Ancient Greek βλάσφημος (blásphēmos, “evil-speaking”) with the suffix -ία (-ía).^[1] Beekes and Frisk point out, however, that βλασφημέω (blasphēméō, “to speak profanely, slander”) and βλασφημία are older than the adjective, which is rare and late.^[2][3] Frisk therefore takes the verb and the noun as formed straight from a phrase, as ἀνδραγαθία (andragathía) was from ἀνήρ (anḗr) ἀγαθός (agathós), and contrasts them with εὐφημία (euphēmía).^[3][2] The second element is φήμη (phḗmē, “speech, report”).^[2][3][4] The first is unexplained: βλάβος (blábos, “harm”) and μέλεος (méleos, “vain, wretched”) have been proposed.^[2][3] Frisk notes that the synonyms κερτομέω (kertoméō) and λοιδορέω (loidoréō) are just as obscure, and calls all three expressive, popular words.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is a fragment of Democritus, in which slanderous talk cannot spoil a good deed.^[5][2] In Euripides' Ion it is an ill-omened word spoken during a sacrifice, the opposite of the reverent silence (εὐφημία) the rite required.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the classical period the word covered both irreverent speech about the gods and abuse of people: Plato uses it for words that must not be uttered at a ceremony, and the Attic orators for slander and invective.^[6][8][5] The Septuagint uses it for speech against God, and in the New Testament it is both reviling of people and blasphemy against God and the Spirit.^[9][10][11]

Through Late Latin blasphēmia and Old French the word reached English as blasphemy in the early 13th century.^[4] Medieval vernacular Greek had the popular form βλαστημιά (vlastimiá), and Modern Greek still says βλαστήμια (vlastímia) for an oath or curse, while Modern Greek βλασφημία (vlasfimía) is the learned word.^[12][13][14]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Democritus uses it for slander, and Euripides for an ill-omened word at a sacrifice.^[5][6][8]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes and Aeschines use it for insults against opponents.^[5][8]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for defamation.^[8][10]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for reviling and for blasphemy against God.^[10][11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has the form βλαστημιά (vlastimiá), also stressed on the second syllable.^[12]
• Early 13th century – English borrows blasphemy through Old French.^[4]
• Modern Greek – The learned βλασφημία (vlasfimía) means blasphemy.^[14][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Defamation, slander, abusive speech; in the plural, insults.^[8][5][10]
2. An ill-omened or profane word, one not to be spoken at a religious rite.^[6][5]
3. Irreverent speech about the gods or God, blasphemy.^[8][10]

Related words

• βλασφημέω (blasphēméō)
• βλάσφημος (blásphēmos)
• φήμη (phḗmē)
• εὐφημία (euphēmía)
• Latin blasphemia
• English blasphemy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
10. ^ a b c d e 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
11. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki