γραφή

Forms

γρᾰφή (graphḗ) f (genitive γρᾰφῆς); first declension^[1] Doric γροφά.^[2]

Etymology

It is a noun from Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, draw, write”).^[1][2][3] The stem comes from a zero grade, Proto-Indo-European *gr̥bʰ-, of Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch, carve”), whose cognates include Old English ceorfan (“to cut, carve”) and Middle High German kerben.^[2] The Doric variant γροφά (grophá), from Epidaurus, is probably an inner-Greek variant of the zero-grade vowel rather than an old o-grade.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus uses it of painting: the Agamemnon has “standing out as in pictures”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is representation by lines, drawing and painting, and so a picture.^[3][5] From the 5th century it is also writing and anything written: a letter, an inscription, a document.^[3][5] At Athens it became a legal term, the written indictment in a public prosecution and the prosecution itself, as opposed to the private suit (δίκη).^[3][5] Later it was used of a list or register, a manuscript reading and a medical prescription.^[3]

In the Letter of Aristeas, Philo and the New Testament it is Holy Scripture, in the singular a single passage and in the plural the Scriptures.^[3][6][5] Coptic had borrowed it by about AD 300.^[7] Medieval Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek γραφή (grafí) is writing, script, handwriting and Scripture.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of pictures.^[3][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of drawing and painting.^[3][5]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of a letter and an inscription.^[3][5]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of a public prosecution and its written indictment.^[3]
• 2nd century BC – Papyri use it of a list or register.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of Scripture.^[6][3]
• Modern Greek – γραφή (grafí) is writing and script.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Drawing, painting; representation by lines.^[3][5]
2. A picture; a woven or embroidered design.^[3][5]
3. Writing, the art of writing; registration.^[3][5]
4. Something written: a letter, an inscription, a document; in the plural, writings.^[3][5]
5. A list, register; a manuscript reading; a medical prescription.^[3]
6. (law) A written indictment in a public prosecution; the public prosecution itself.^[3][5]
7. (Koine) Scripture; a passage of Scripture.^[3][6]

Word family

• γραφικός (graphikós)

Related words

• γράφω (gráphō)
• γράμμα (grámma)
• γραμμή (grammḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki