Etymologically
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δεσπότης

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /des.pó.tɛːs/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ðesˈpo.tis/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ðesˈpo.tis/[1]

Forms

δεσπότης (despótēs) m (genitive δεσπότου, feminine δέσποινᾰ or δεσπότῐς or δεσπότειρᾰ or δεσπότρῐᾰ); first declension[1] Doric δεσπότας, Ionic genitive δεσπότεω and accusative δεσπότεα.[2][3] Perhaps Mycenaean do-po-ta.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *déspotis,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótis (“master of the house”), an old phrase that became a single word in Greek.[4][5][1] The first part is the genitive of the Indo-European word for “house” (see δόμος (dómos)), and the second the word for “master” also seen in πόσις (pósis, “husband”).[4][1][6] Benveniste took the first part to be the zero grade of an s-stem instead,[5] and Πάπυρος reports a derivation from the root of δέμω (démō, “to build”).[7] As a compound the word passed from the i-stem of πόσις to the ā-stem declension of masculines in -της.[4][5][1]

It matches Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati, “lord of the house”), which also occurs split into its two parts, and Avestan has a matching phrase.[4][5] If Mycenaean Greek do-po-ta on the Mycenaean tablets is the same word, it points to *d(o)ms-pot-, with dissimilation of o–o to e–o in later Greek.[3] The feminine δέσποινα (déspoina) comes from *δεσ-ποτ-να.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer does not use it, although the Odyssey has the feminine δέσποινα (déspoina), and LSJ explains the gap by the metre.[4][5][8] It is first found in the 7th century BC, in Archilochus as the lord of Euboea and in Tyrtaeus as the master of slaves.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic meaning is the master of a household, especially as owner of slaves: Plato says that slaves and masters can never be friends, and Aristotle makes master and slave the first parts of the household.[8][3] It was also used of the gods, often in prayers, and of the Persian king, whom his subjects addressed as “master”, in Aeschylus, Herodotus and Xenophon.[2][8] Since Greeks did not address their own rulers so, the word could mean an absolute ruler, a despot, in Herodotus, Thucydides and Plato.[8][2] Herodotus has the Spartans' law as their only master.[3] Later it was used of the Roman emperors.[8]

In the Septuagint δέσποτα κύριε renders a Hebrew address to God.[9] In the New Testament it is the master of slaves and, in prayer, God, as in Luke 2:29.[10][11]

In Byzantium it became a title of the emperor, then of princes and of the rulers of the despotates, such as the despot of the Morea or of Arta; it was also used for Christ and, from the medieval period, for a bishop.[12][7] In Modern Greek δεσπότης (despótis) is the everyday word for a bishop and an epithet of Christ, and, as a learned word, the ruler of a despotate or an absolute ruler.[13] English despot came from it through Medieval Latin despota in the 16th century, at first for Byzantine and Ottoman-era Christian rulers.[6]

Timeline

  • 7th century BC – Archilochus and Tyrtaeus use it for a lord and a master of slaves.[3][2]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the Persian king.[2][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for an absolute ruler.[8][3]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle analyses the household as master and slave.[8][3]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it in prayer for God.[10]
  • Byzantine period – It becomes a title of the emperor, then of princes and rulers of despotates.[7][12]
  • 1560s – English despot is first recorded.[6]
  • Modern Greek – It is the usual word for a bishop.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. master of a household; master of slaves.[8][2]
  2. Lord, of a god, and in Koine of God and of Christ.[2][10]
  3. Lord, of an eastern king.[2]
  4. Owner of something; ruler of a place.[8][2]
  5. (pejorative) An absolute ruler, a despot.[8][2]
  6. A husband, as lord and master of his wife.[2]
  7. (astrology) The dominant planet.[8]
  8. (Byzantine) A title of the emperor, of princes and of the rulers of despotates.[12][7]
  9. (Byzantine and later) A bishop.[12][13]

Word family

  • ἀδέσποτος (adéspotos)
  • δεσπόζω (despózō)
  • δέσποινα (déspoina)
  • δεσποσύνη (desposúnē)
  • δεσπόσυνος (despósunos)
  • δεσποτεία (despoteía)
  • δεσποτέω (despotéō)
  • δεσποτικός (despotikós)
  • δεσπότις (despótis)
  • δεσποτίσκος (despotískos)
  • δόμος (dómos)
  • πόσις (pósis)
  • English despot

Usage notes

Philo derived δεσπότης from δεσμός (desmós, “bond”) and δέος (déos, “fear”), making the master “the frightening lord”.[14]

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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
  12. ^ a b c d Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  13. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  14. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram