διασπορά

Forms

δῐᾰσπορᾱ́ (diasporā́) f (genitive δῐᾰσπορᾶς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun from Ancient Greek διασπείρω (diaspeírō, “to scatter, to sow abroad”), with the suffix -η (-ē) of verbal nouns.^[1][2][3] The verb is formed with διά (diá, “through, about”) from σπείρω (speírō, “to sow, to scatter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest texts with the word are in the Septuagint, beginning with Deuteronomy, where it is the scattering of Israel among the kingdoms of the earth.^[5][6][4] The translators sometimes chose it where the Hebrew had a word for “horror” that they read differently.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the Septuagint it is the dispersion of the Jews among the gentiles, and by metonymy the dispersed themselves, as in Psalm 147.^[7][3][6] John's Gospel speaks of “the dispersion among the Greeks”, the Jews living among Greeks, and the Epistle of James and the First Epistle of Peter apply it to Christians scattered in the world, far from their heavenly home.^[2][3][8] The New Pauly uses the term for the Jewish settlements outside Palestine.^[9]

Outside the Bible it keeps a general sense of scattering: Plutarch uses it of the dispersal of atoms or of ashes, and Philo speaks of a scattering of the soul.^[6][10] In Basil of Caesarea it is the place of exile of bishops and a scattered group of people.^[6] Coptic borrowed it, with a record from about AD 200.^[11]

English diaspora was first applied to the Moravian church in 1825, and to the dispersion of the Jews in 1869.^[4] Wiktionary lists borrowings in most European languages.^[1] Modern Greek διασπορά (diasporá) is a learned word for any dispersal, a people living abroad (“the Greeks of the diaspora”), and, as a semantic loan from English dissemination, the spreading of weapons or false news.^[12]

Timeline

• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint's Deuteronomy uses it of the dispersion of Israel.^[5][4]
• 2nd century BC – The books of Judith, 2 Maccabees and the Psalms use it of the Jews in exile.^[5][6]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo writes of a scattering of the soul.^[10][6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of Jews among the Greeks and of scattered Christians.^[2][3]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of the dispersal of atoms.^[6][10]
• 4th century AD – Basil of Caesarea uses it of the place of exile of bishops.^[6]
• 1825 – English diaspora is first recorded, of the Moravians.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Scattering, dispersion.^[10][6]
2. (Septuagint, New Testament) The dispersion of the Jews among the gentiles; the place where the dispersed live.^[7][2][8]
3. (collective) The dispersed people themselves, the community of the diaspora.^[10][7][6]
4. (New Testament) The Christians scattered in the world.^[2][3]
5. (late) Distribution of money.^[6]

Related words

• διασπείρω (diaspeírō)
• σπείρω (speírō)
• σπορά (sporá)
• English diaspora

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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
3. ^ a b c d e Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki