εἴσοδος

Forms

εἴσοδος (eísodos) f (genitive εἰσόδου); second declension^[1] Also ἔσοδος (ésodos), in Pindar, Herodotus, Thucydides and Pausanias.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek εἰς (eis, “into”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”).^[1][4][5] Compare ἔξοδος (éxodos, “way out”) and δίοδος (díodos, “passage”).^[5] For ὁδός (hodós) Beekes reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *sod- (“course”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it is the narrow entrance of a harbour.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it was a place of entry: the entrance of a temple in Euripides, a mountain pass into Greece in Herodotus, the side entrance of the chorus in the theatre in Aristophanes, the door of a lawcourt in Aristotle.^[3][2] Pindar uses it figuratively for the ways to glory.^[3] It was also the act of entering, entry into the lists at the games, the bringing of a suit into court, the right of access to a king, and a visit, including a doctor's visit in Galen.^[3] Polybius uses it for revenue, opposed to ἔξοδος (éxodos) “expenditure”, and Vettius Valens for a study or method.^[3] The Septuagint has it for an entrance hall and for an influx, and Hermas calls Christ the only entrance to the Lord.^[7][8]

Medieval Greek used it for the Great Entrance of the liturgy, for the feast of the Entry of the Virgin into the Temple, and for income.^[9] Modern Greek είσοδος (ísodos) is a learned word: the entrance and the act of entering, with an admission sense modelled on French entrée and a computing sense on English input.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for the narrow entrance of a harbour.^[4][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for entry into the lists at the games and for the ways to glory.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a pass into Greece and for the right of access to the king.^[3][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for the side entrance of the chorus in the theatre.^[3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for revenue.^[3]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for a doctor's visit, and Vettius Valens for a study or method.^[3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for the Great Entrance of the liturgy and for income.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned είσοδος (ísodos) means an entrance or entry, and also input.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An entrance, place of entry: of a harbour, a building or a mountain pass; the entrance of the chorus in the theatre.^[3][2][4]
2. The act of entering, entry.^[3][8]
3. Entry into the lists at the games; the bringing of a suit into court.^[3]
4. The right of entrance or access.^[3]
5. A visit, also of a doctor.^[3]
6. (Koine) A study or investigation; a method.^[3]
7. (Koine) Revenue, income.^[3][7]

Word family

• ἐπείσοδος (epeísodos)
• εἰσόδιος (eisódios)
• εἰσοδεύω (eisodeúō)

Related words

• ὁδός (hodós)
• ἔξοδος (éxodos)
• εἰσέρχομαι (eisérkhomai)
• εἰς (eis)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
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 Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki