γεωμετρία

Forms

γεωμετρῐ́ᾱ (geōmetríā) f (genitive γεωμετρῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic γεωμετρίη (geōmetríē) in Herodotus.^[2][3] Doric γαμετρία (gametría) in Archytas.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-, “land”) + -μετρία (-metríā, “measurement”).^[1] Πάπυρος derives it from γεωμέτρης (geōmétrēs, “land surveyor, geometer”).^[4] The first element is the combining form of γῆ (gê, “earth, land”), and the second belongs to μέτρον (métron, “measure”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus is the first to use it, in its Ionic form, for geometry.^[3][2][5] In Aristophanes' Clouds it may refer to an instrument of the science.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it is the science of measuring space and figures: Plato uses the plural for geometrical examples and problems, and it is the field of Archytas, Aristotle, Archimedes and Hero.^[2][6][3]

In the papyri of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt it keeps a concrete sense: the survey of land, carried out to restore boundaries or to estimate a crop, and the report of such a survey.^[2][3] It was also the name of a tax that paid for the periodic surveys needed after the Nile floods.^[2] In the Septuagint, Isaiah's “line of land measurement” stretched over a ruined country is an image of desolation.^[2][7]

Latin borrowed it as geometria, and Coptic and Aramaic took it too.^[8][1][9] Medieval vernacular Greek had it also in the form ιωμετρία (iometría).^[10] A geometry textbook of 1787 defines it as the science of continuous quantities.^[11] Modern Greek keeps it as a learned word, for the branch of mathematics and for a textbook or school subject.^[12][4]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for geometry.^[3][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses the plural for geometrical problems.^[2][3]
• 3rd century BC – Ptolemaic papyri use it for land surveys and their reports.^[2]
• 2nd century BC – Papyri name a tax for land surveys after it.^[2][3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts have it also in the form ιωμετρία (iometría).^[10]
• 1787 – A geometry textbook printed in Venice defines it as the science of continuous quantities.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned γεωμετρία (geometría) names the branch of mathematics.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Geometry.^[3][6][2]
2. (plural) Geometrical examples or problems.^[2][6]
3. (Koine) A survey of land, and its report.^[2][3]
4. (Koine) A tax paying for land surveys.^[2][3]

Related words

• γεωμετρέω (geōmetréō)
• γεωμέτρης (geōmétrēs)
• γεωμετρικός (geōmetrikós)
• γῆ (gê)
• μέτρον (métron)
• Latin geometria

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Κάτοπτρον: Ιστορικό λεξικό επιστημονικών όρων (Greek scientific terms 1700–1821)
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki