δόσις

Forms

δόσῐς (dósis) f (genitive δόσῐος or δόσεως); third declension^[1] Ionic genitive δόσιος.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *dótis (“act of giving; gift”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃tis (“act of giving”).^[1] NIL reconstructs the Greek and Indo-Iranian forms with the zero grade, Proto-Indo-European *dh₃tí-, beside a full grade *doh₃tí- in Balto-Slavic and Avestan.^[3] Within Greek it is the verbal noun of δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”), with the suffix -σις (-sis), an earlier /t/ having become /s/ before /i/.^[1][4][5] The same root with a t-suffix gives Latin dōs (“dowry”) and the rare δώς (dṓs, “gift”) of Hesiod.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning a gift: in the Iliad a fine gift is promised to the man who will spy on the Trojans, and the Odyssey has the saying that a gift may be small but welcome.^[7][8] The Odyssey also uses it for something given for use, a loan.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod, Theognis and Pindar use it for the gifts of the gods and the Muses, and in Classical prose it means the act of giving, of money (Herodotus), of pay (Thucydides) or of a drug (Antiphon).^[2][8][9] In Attic law it meant a bequest: an estate was inherited “by gift”, by will, as opposed to “by kinship”.^[8][2] Aristotle pairs the giving and the taking of money, and inscriptions use it for an instalment.^[8]

Later it came to mean a portion, as in the Septuagint, and in the physicians a dose of medicine.^[8][10] In the New Testament every good gift comes from above, and Paul speaks of “giving and receiving”.^[11] Late Latin borrowed the medical word as Latin dosis, from which come French dose and English dose, recorded from the early 15th century.^[1][10]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a gift, alms, a tax and a blow.^[12] Modern Greek δόση (dósi) continues it for a dose of medicine, a measured quantity and an instalment; the medical sense was reinforced by French dose, and the sense of instalment goes back to the Hellenistic period.^[13][4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a gift, and the Odyssey also for a loan.^[7][8]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for a gift of the gods.^[2][14][15]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for the giving of money or pay.^[8][2][15]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isaeus uses it for a bequest, as opposed to inheritance by kinship.^[8][2][15]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it for a dose of medicine.^[8][15]
• Early 15th century – English borrows dose from French or Medieval Latin.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as δόση (dósi), a dose or an instalment.^[13][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of giving.^[8][2][11]
2. A gift, also a gift of the gods.^[8][2][7]
3. (Homer) Something given for use, a loan.^[7]
4. A bequest, legacy; κατὰ δόσιν, by will.^[8][2]
5. Licence, permission.^[8]
6. A payment on account, an instalment.^[8][2]
7. A largess distributed to the people.^[8]
8. A portion.^[8]
9. (medicine) A dose of medicine.^[8][10]
10. (naval tactics) The delivering of blows with the ram.^[8]

Word family

• ἀνάδοσις (anádosis)
• ἀνταπόδοσις (antapódosis)
• ἀντίδοσις (antídosis)
• ἀπόδοσις (apódosis)
• διάδοσις (diádosis)
• δοτικός (dotikós)
• ἔκδοσις (ékdosis)
• ἐπίδοσις (epídosis)
• μετάδοσις (metádosis)
• παράδοσις (parádosis)
• πρόδοσις (pródosis)
• ἔνδοσις (éndosis)

Related words

• δῶρον (dôron)
• Latin dōs
• English dose

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
15. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge