εὐάγγελος

Forms

εὐάγγελος (euángelos) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek εὖ (eû, “well”) + ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”), “bringing good news”.^[2][3] Wiktionary takes the second part from the verb ἀγγέλλω (angéllō, “to announce”).^[1] Beekes considers ἄγγελος (ángelos) a loanword, perhaps from the East.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aeschylus' Agamemnon, where the beacon fire that announces the fall of Troy is called the bearer of good news.^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The tragedians use it of fire, hopes and messengers that bring welcome news.^[3][2] An inscription calls Rumour by this name, and Hesychius records it as a title of Hermes, the messenger god.^[3][6] Oppian uses it in the 2nd century AD of an animal's keen nose.^[3][2] The word remained rare: the GLAUx corpus has only about ten instances.^[5] The common words of the family were the noun εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion) and the verb εὐαγγελίζω (euangelízō), which gave the language of the Gospels.^[1]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the beacon and of hopes in the Agamemnon.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it in the Medea and the Phoenician Women.^[5][2][7]
• 2nd century AD – Oppian uses it in his poem on fishing.^[3][5][7]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius records it as a title of Hermes.^[3][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bringing good news; announcing a happy event.^[3][2][1]
2. A title of Ἑρμῆς (Hermês).^[3][6]

Word family

• εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion)
• εὐαγγελίζω (euangelízō)

Related words

• ἄγγελος (ángelos)
• ἀγγέλλω (angéllō)
• εὖ (eû)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
7. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge