εὐγενής

Forms

εὐγενής (eugenḗs) m or f (neuter εὐγενές); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek εὐ- (eu-, “well”) + γένος (génos, “birth, stock”), with the adjective ending -ής.^[1][2][3] Homer has the form εὐηγενής (euēgenḗs), and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite ἠϋγενής (ēugenḗs).^[4]

The noun belongs to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite has the form ἠϋγενής, “well-born”.^[4][6] In Theognis (6th century BC) it describes a horse of good breed.^[4][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Tragedy used it both of birth and, by extension, of character, “noble-minded, generous”, and Aristotle remarks that εὐγενής properly means of good family, while γενναῖος (gennaîos) means true to one's nature.^[4] It was also said of animals, plants, metals and a fine figure or style.^[4][8]

In the Septuagint it means well-born or noble (Job, 4 Maccabees);^[9] in the New Testament the man of noble birth in the parable of the minas is ἄνθρωπός τις εὐγενής, and Acts calls some hearers “more open-minded” than those in Thessalonica.^[10][11] Spicq notes that for Luke's hearers the word could suggest greatness and wealth as much as legal rank.^[11] The word was borrowed as Latin eugeneus^[12] and into Coptic, recorded from AD 375.^[13]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept it;^[14] in Modern Greek it is a learned word, ευγενής (evgenís), “noble” and “polite”, the second sense partly modelled on French noble.^[15][3]

Timeline

• 7th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite has the form ἠϋγενής (ēugenḗs).^[4][6]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of a well-bred horse.^[4][7]
• 5th century BC – The tragedians use it for “noble-minded”.^[4][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes it from γενναῖος (gennaîos).^[4]
• 1st century AD – Luke calls the man who goes to receive a kingdom εὐγενής.^[10][11]
• AD 375 – It is recorded as a loanword in Coptic.^[13]
• Modern Greek – It continues as a learned word meaning “noble” and “polite”.^[15][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Well-born, of noble descent.^[4][8][10]
2. Noble-minded, generous.^[4][10]
3. Of animals, high-bred; of plants, of a good kind.^[4]
4. Of outward form or style, noble, fine.^[4]

Word family

• εὐγένεια (eugéneia)
• εὐγενία (eugenía)
• εὐγενῶς (eugenôs)

Related words

• Latin eugeneus

Usage notes

Hesychius glosses it as “free by birth”.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Βασικό Λεξικό της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c d 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
11. ^ a b c Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
12. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
13. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
15. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
16. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)