δεύτερος

Forms

δεύτερος (deúteros) ^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[1][2] The usual view, held by Frisk and Chantraine, makes it a comparative in -τερος (-teros) from Ancient Greek δεύομαι (deúomai, “to fall short, lack”), so originally “the one of two who stays behind, the following one”.^[3][4][5] Ruijgh objected that the suffix is unlikely to have been added to a verbal stem, and suggested an adverbial stem *δευ (*deu), perhaps seen in δεῦτε (deûte) and δεῦρο (deûro).^[6][1][2] A link with δύο (dúo, “two”), suggested in LSJ, is according to Chantraine a popular etymology.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of one who comes second, in a race or in throwing a spear, and of those who will live on after someone.^[7][2][8]

Semantic evolution

From Homer on the word means “second” in order, then “next, later” in time, as in “on the next day” in Herodotus, and “second” in rank, behind someone or something.^[7][2] The neuter plural meant the second prize as early as the Iliad.^[7][2] It also meant the second of two, a second like the first (a second Ajax), and in papyri the younger of two brothers with the same name.^[8][2][7] In medicine the neuter plural named the afterbirth.^[7][2]

In the Septuagint the second day of the week is δευτέρα σαββάτου (deutéra sabbátou), and in the New Testament the word numbers brothers, signs and commandments.^[7][9] Medieval Greek kept the word, and in Modern Greek δεύτερος (défteros) is the ordinary word for “second”, some of its senses being semantic loans from French second.^[10][11] The learned words in English deutero- come from it through Late Latin.^[12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of the second in a race and of the second prize.^[7][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the second, silver race of men.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the next day and of second rank.^[7][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of the “second voyage”, a second-best course.^[2]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the neuter plural for the afterbirth.^[7][2]
• Modern Greek – δεύτερος (défteros) is the ordinary word for “second”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Second in order or sequence.^[7][8]
2. Of time, next, later; of people, surviving someone.^[7][8][2]
3. Second in rank, inferior.^[7]
4. Second of two; a second, another like the first.^[8][7]
5. In papyri, the younger of two relatives with the same name.^[2][7]
6. (substantive) The second prize or place.^[7][2]
7. (medicine, substantive) The afterbirth.^[7][2]

Word family

• δευτεραγωνιστής (deuteragōnistḗs)
• δευτεραῖος (deuteraîos)
• δευτερεῖα (deutereîa)
• δευτερεύω (deutereúō)
• δευτερονόμιον (deuteronómion)

Usage notes

Plato's “second voyage” (δεύτερος πλοῦς (deúteros ploûs)) became proverbial for a second-best course.^[2] The proverb δευτέρων ἀμεινόνων (deutérōn ameinónōn), “second tries are better”, is in Plato and Zenobius.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com