γένεσις

Forms

γένεσῐς (génesis) f (genitive γενέσεως); third declension^[1] Ionic and Doric genitive γενέσιος.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *génetis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis,^[1] a noun in *-ti- from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”), though NIL marks the Greek word as uncertain.^[3] Within Greek it is felt as the action noun of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “to come into being”), with the suffix -σις (-sis).^[1][4][5] Babiniotis groups it with γένος (génos), γενεά (geneá), γόνος (gónos) and γνήσιος (gnḗsios).^[6]

NIL sets beside it nouns of the same formation such as Lithuanian gentìs “kinsman, clan” and possibly Latin gēns.^[3] Plutarch explained the word fancifully as an inclination of the soul toward the earth, as if from γῆ (gê) and νεῦσις (neûsis).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad Okeanos is called the “origin” of the gods and of all things.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it of a person's birth and descent, Sophocles of lineage.^[4][5] In philosophy it became the word for coming into being: Parmenides sets it against destruction, Plato against “being” (οὐσία (ousía)) and Aristotle in the title of his work On Generation and Corruption.^[4] Plato also uses it of the created world as a whole.^[4][5] Hippocratic writers use it of the formation of pus, later mathematicians of the generation of a figure.^[4] In astrology it was a person's nativity, and so their fortune.^[4]

In the Septuagint it means generation, birth and family, and the opening of Genesis speaks of the “book of the generation of heaven and earth”.^[8] Greek translators used the word as the name of the first book of the Bible, which passed into Latin genesis and into English as Genesis.^[9][10] The New Testament uses it of birth, and of a genealogy.^[11][12] Coptic borrowed it, with a first record about AD 600.^[13]

Medieval Greek kept the word.^[14] Modern γένεση (génesi), the origin and formation of a phenomenon, is a learned form of the ancient word.^[15][6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad calls Okeanos the origin of the gods.^[4][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides opposes coming into being to destruction.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of manner of birth and of descent.^[4][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts becoming with being and calls the created world by this name.^[4][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle writes On Generation and Corruption.^[4]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Matthew uses it of the birth of Jesus.^[11]
• 2nd century AD – Vettius Valens uses it of an astrological nativity.^[4]
• About AD 600 – The earliest dated Coptic manuscript has the borrowed word.^[13]
• Modern Greek – γένεση (génesi) is a learned form of the ancient noun.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. Origin, source.^[4][5]
2. Manner of birth; descent, lineage.^[4][5]
3. (philosophy) Coming into being, generation, as opposed to destruction; becoming, as opposed to being.^[4][5]
4. Production, formation, making of something.^[4][5]
5. (concrete) The created world, creation.^[4][5]
6. Race, kind; a family line; a generation, age.^[4][5]
7. (astrology) Nativity; fortune.^[4]
8. (Koine) Birth; genealogy; offspring.^[8][11]
9. (mathematics) Generation of a figure; the origin of a spiral.^[4]

Related words

• γεννάω (gennáō)
• γέννησις (génnēsis)
• Latin genesis
• English genesis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ a b c 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
12. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
13. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
15. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki