διά

Forms

δῐᾰ́ (diá) (governs the genitive and accusative)^[1] Lesbian ζά (zá) (from a pronunciation of ι as a consonant), Thessalian διέ (dié), and poetic διαί (diaí) in Aeschylus.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dis- (“apart, in two”),^[5][3] through a pre-form *δισά (*disá) whose final vowel was added on the model of μετά (metá) and παρά (pará).^[3][2][1] Chantraine treats this root as a doublet of *dwis-, and Wiktionary traces the word to *dwís (“twice, in two”), the source of δίς (dís, “twice”) and a relative of δύο (dúo, “two”).^[2][1] Its first meaning was “dividing, in two”, which gave “through” and “completely”.^[2]

Cognate with Latin dis-, Old English te-, Old High German zi- and Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐍃- (dis-).^[3][2][1] Frisk thinks the Gothic prefix, with its unexpected ⟨d⟩, was probably taken from Latin.^[3] It is not yet found in Mycenaean.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it both as an adverb, “through” (an arrow “flew through”), and as a preposition with the genitive and the accusative, “through, across, among”.^[6][4][7] Already in Homer the accusative also gives the cause, a person or more often a thing.^[2]

Semantic evolution

With the genitive the local “through” gave temporal senses (throughout a period, after an interval, at intervals of), distance (“apart by”), and after Homer the means and the agent: Herodotus speaks of acting “through messengers”.^[2][4] With the accusative the local and temporal uses stayed archaic and poetic, while the causal one became the usual sense, in phrases such as διὰ ταῦτα “for this reason” and διὰ τί “why?”.^[2][4] Plato uses it of a thing considered “in and of itself”.^[4]

As a preverb it marks division and passage, as in διαβαίνω (diabaínō) and διέχω (diékhō).^[2] From that came distinction and difference, as in διαφέρω (diaphérō), διαιρέω (diairéō) and διαλύω (dialúō), and also rivalry and completion.^[2] In the New Testament the basic idea is still separation, giving “through” with both cases.^[8]

Medieval Greek used it as the main word for cause and purpose, beside the reduced forms ογιά (ogiá) and για (giá); the latter is the everyday Modern Greek για (gia) “for”.^[9][1] The learned διά (diá) survives in set phrases and, in the sense “via, through”, as a calque of French par.^[10]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad uses it as an adverb and as a preposition of place, with the genitive and the accusative.^[6][4][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it with the genitive for the agent through whom something is done.^[2][4][11]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it with the genitive of cause, “owing to disasters”.^[4][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses διά with the accusative for a thing “in and of itself”.^[4][11]
• Medieval Greek – The forms ογιά and για appear beside διά.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The everyday preposition για (gia) continues it, beside the learned διά.^[1][10]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with genitive) Through, from one side or end to the other; across, over.^[12][4]
2. (with genitive) Throughout, all over (a city, an army).^[4]
3. (with genitive, of time) Throughout, during; after (an interval); at intervals of.^[4][1]
4. (with genitive) Apart by, at a distance of.^[4]
5. (with genitive) Through the agency of, by means of; through (words, riddles).^[4][2]
6. (with accusative, poetic) Through, among, amid.^[4][1]
7. (with accusative) Because of, owing to; thanks to; for the sake of.^[4][1][2]

Adverb

1. Through, throughout.^[6][1]

Word family

• διαβαίνω (diabaínō)
• διαιρέω (diairéō)
• διαλύω (dialū́ō)
• διαφέρω (diaphérō)
• διαφωνέω (diaphōnéō)
• διέχω (diékhō)
• διαμπερές (diamperés)
• διάνδιχα (diándikha)
• διαπρό (diapró)
• διέκ (diék)

Related words

• δίς (dís)
• δύο (dúo)
• Latin dis-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
3. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press