εἰρωνεία

Forms

εἰρωνείᾱ (eirōneíā) f (genitive εἰρωνείᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεύομαι (eirōneúomai, “to feign ignorance, dissemble”), the denominative verb of εἴρων (eírōn, “one who pretends not to know”).^[2][3][4] Wiktionary analyses it directly as that noun with the abstract suffix -εία (-eía).^[1]

That noun belongs to the formations in -ων (-ōn) that make nicknames and character types, but its base is unknown.^[2][3][4] Solmsen connected it with εἴρω (eírō, “to say”), as “one who only says something without meaning it”, and Prellwitz with εἴρομαι (eíromai, “to ask”), as “a questioner”.^[2][3] Chantraine finds neither convincing: the verb for “to ask” has an Ionic shape (Attic has only ἐρέσθαι (erésthai)), the sense “to say” fits badly and the present of that verb is very rare, so he concludes that there is no satisfactory etymology.^[4] Pokorny lists the word under Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to speak”), and Etymonline gives the link with the verb “to say” as a possibility.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plato's Republic, of the feigned ignorance with which Socrates drew out and confounded the people he questioned.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Semantic evolution

In Plato the word names Socrates' habit of pretending to know less than he did, and it is usually meant as a reproach.^[8][9][4] Demosthenes uses it for the evasions and excuses with which the Athenians put off action, a feigned willingness that comes to nothing.^[7][8][4] Aristotle sets it against boastfulness, ἀλαζονεία (alazoneía), as mock-modesty, and the εἴρων is the first figure in Theophrastus' Characters, which defines the vice as pretending to be worse in deeds and words than one is.^[7][4][9]

From the 4th century BC the rhetoricians also used it for a figure of speech: Anaximenes of Lampsacus defines it as saying something while pretending not to say it, or calling things by the opposite names, and later writers use it for sarcasm and understatement.^[9][7] In Koine it is pretence in general: the Second Book of Maccabees and Philo use it, and the Epistle to Diognetus speaks of the affected show of fasting.^[11][9]

It passed into Latin ironia, from which come French ironie and English irony, first recorded about 1500.^[12][6] Modern Greek ειρωνεία (eironeía) is a learned word whose sense, mocking irony, was shaped by Plato's use and by the French and English words.^[13]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it in the Republic for the feigned ignorance of Socrates.^[7][9][10]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for evasive pretexts for not acting.^[7][4][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle opposes it to boastfulness as mock-modesty, and Anaximenes of Lampsacus defines it as a rhetorical figure.^[7][8][9]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus opens his Characters with the dissembler.^[2][9]
• 2nd century AD – Hermogenes uses it for sarcasm.^[7]
• About 1500 – English borrows it as irony, through Latin.^[6]
• Modern Greek – The learned word ειρωνεία (eironeía) means irony and mockery.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dissimulation: feigned ignorance, used to provoke or confound an opponent in argument, especially the method of Socrates.^[7][8][11]
2. Mock-modesty, self-depreciation, the opposite of boastfulness.^[7][8][9]
3. A show of willingness followed by holding back; an evasion, a pretext.^[7][8][4]
4. Dissembling, pretence in general.^[7][8][9]
5. (rhetoric) Irony, saying the opposite of what one means; also sarcasm and understatement.^[9][7]

Related words

• εἴρων (eírōn)
• εἰρωνεύομαι (eirōneúomai)
• εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós)
• Latin ironia
• English irony

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 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
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
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. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki