διαγνωστικός

Forms

δῐαγνωστῐκός (diagnōstikós) m (feminine δῐαγνωστῐκή, neuter δῐαγνωστῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the adjective from Ancient Greek διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō, “to distinguish, discern”), formed on the verbal adjective διαγνωστός (diagnōstós) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós);^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes it as formed from διάγνωσις (diágnōsis), or as δια- (dia-) added to γνωστικός (gnōstikós).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, in Plutarch, who asks whether the study of harmony is able to judge music, and in Nicomachus of Gerasa, meaning able to discern or recognise.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Lucian and Sextus Empiricus use it with a genitive, “able to tell true arguments from false”, and pair it with διακριτικός (diakritikós).^[6][5][3] In Galen it became a term of medicine: able to diagnose, or serving for diagnosis, the diagnostic signs being set against the prognostic ones.^[5][6][3] In papyri of the 4th to 6th centuries AD and in Justinian's Novels it refers to a judicial hearing (a διάγνωσις (diágnōsis)) and its records, and the adverb means “by judicial inquiry”.^[5][6]

English diagnostic, first recorded in the 1620s, comes from it.^[2] Modern Greek διαγνωστικός (diagnostikós) is a learned form of the Hellenistic word, used above all of diagnosis in medicine, and its feminine as a noun names the branch of medicine that deals with diagnosis.^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch and Nicomachus of Gerasa use it for “able to discern”.^[5]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it, and Galen makes it a medical term for diagnosis.^[5][6]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus speaks of the power to tell true arguments from false.^[6][5]
• 4th century AD – A Leipzig papyrus uses it of the records of a judicial hearing.^[5][6]
• 6th century AD – Justinian's Novels use it of disputes settled by judicial inquiry.^[5]
• 1620s – English first records diagnostic.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned διαγνωστικός (diagnostikós) means “diagnostic”.^[7][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to distinguish or recognise, with a genitive of the things told apart.^[6][5][3]
2. (medicine) Able to diagnose; serving for diagnosis, diagnostic.^[5][6]
3. Of or resulting from a judicial hearing; adverb, by judicial inquiry.^[5][6]

Related words

• διάγνωσις (diágnōsis)
• διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō)
• γνωστικός (gnōstikós)
• English diagnostic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki