Etymologically
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δόξα

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /dók.sa/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈðok.sa/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈðok.sa/[1]

Forms

δόξᾰ (dóxa) f (genitive δόξης); first declension[1]

Etymology

It belongs with δοκέω (dokéō, “to expect, think; to seem”) (future δόξω, aorist ἔδοξα), but how it was formed is unclear.[2][3][4] The DGE thinks it most likely a formation in -σα, like δίψα (dípsa) and Μοῦσα (Moûsa), built on δοκέω.[5] Leumann rejected older reconstructions such as *δόκ-σα, and started instead from the phrase παρὰ (τὸ) δόξαν “contrary to what seemed”, with the neuter of the aorist participle reinterpreted as a feminine noun.[3][2] Frisk thought this worth considering, Beekes and the DGE improbable.[3][2][5] Wiktionary sets up Proto-Indo-European *dóḱs(e)h₂.[1] Beekes adds that the short final -α could also point to a Pre-Greek word.[2]

δοκέω (dokéō) is itself a secondary verb from δέχομαι (dékhomai, “to receive, accept”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to take, accept”), and corresponds to Latin doceō (“to teach”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it twice, in the phrase οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ δόξης, “not short of expectation”.[6][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is expectation: Herodotus has things turning out παρὰ δόξαν, “contrary to expectation”.[4][5] After Homer it came to mean an opinion or judgement, whether right or wrong: Parmenides contrasts the “opinions of mortals” with truth, Plato sets δόξα against knowledge (ἐπιστήμη) and speaks of true and false opinions, and Aristotle calls axioms “common opinions”.[4][7][8] Epicurus' Principal Doctrines are his Κύριαι δόξαι.[4] It could also mean a mere conjecture, or a fancy or vision, as in Aeschylus and of a dream in Euripides.[4][7]

The opinion that others hold of a person, reputation, appears first in Solon, and it was usually good repute, honour and glory: Demosthenes speaks of men who chose glory rather than life.[4] Hellenistic inscriptions praise citizens for the glory of their city.[8]

In the Septuagint the word changed more than any other: it renders Hebrew kāḇôḏ, “weight, honour”, and almost never means “opinion”, but the majesty and radiant splendour of God.[8][4][1] The New Testament uses it for brightness, as of the light on the road to Damascus, for the glory of God and of heaven, and in the plural for glorious beings.[9][4]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for repute and honour, for the glory of God, for brightness and for the rainbow;[10] in Byzantine painting it is the mandorla round Christ.[11][1] Modern Greek δόξα (dóxa) means glory and fame.[12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for expectation.[6][4]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it for reputation.[4][5]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides speaks of the opinions of mortals.[4][5]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts opinion with knowledge.[4][5]
  • 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for glory.[4][5]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the radiance and glory of God.[9]
  • 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses it also for the rainbow.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. expectation.[4][7]
  2. An opinion, judgement, notion.[4][7]
  3. Mere opinion, conjecture.[4][7]
  4. A fancy or vision; a dream.[4][7]
  5. A good opinion of oneself, conceit.[7]
  6. reputation, repute, usually good.[4][7]
  7. Honour, glory.[4][7]
  8. (Koine) Splendour, radiance, especially of the presence of God.[4][9]
  9. (New Testament, plural) Glorious beings.[4]
  10. (medieval) The rainbow; the mandorla in icons.[10][11]

Word family

  • δοξάζω (doxázō)
  • εὔδοξος (eúdoxos)
  • κακόδοξος (kakódoxos)
  • παράδοξος (parádoxos)
  • δοξολογία (doxologíā)
  • ἑτερόδοξος (heteródoxos)
  • ὀρθόδοξος (orthódoxos)
  • δέχομαι (dékhomai)
  • δοκέω (dokéō)
  • δόξις (dóxis)
  • δόγμα (dógma)
  • English paradox

Usage notes

Plato's Cratylus derives δόξα from δίωξις (díōxis, “pursuit”), the soul's pursuit of knowledge, or from τόξον (tóxon, “bow”).[13]

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 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
  3. ^ a b c 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 q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b c Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  11. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  13. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram