καθαρτικός

Forms

κᾰθᾰρτῐκός (kathartikós) m (feminine κᾰθᾰρτῐκή, neuter κᾰθᾰρτῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek καθαίρω (kathaírō, “to cleanse, purify”) + -τικός (-tikós).^[1][2][3] The Middle Liddell derives it from the agent noun καθαρτής (kathartḗs, “purifier”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato uses it of what cleanses or purifies, for instance of soda as the kind of substance that removes oil and dirt, and in the Sophist the art of purification is ἡ καθαρτική.^[6][7] In the Hippocratic writings it is a medical word for what promotes a purge.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle applied it to melodies that have a purifying effect on the listener, in the sense of κάθαρσις (kátharsis).^[6][7] In medicine it came to mean “purgative”: Plutarch speaks of a purgative drug, and Galen and Dioscorides use it often, while the neuter plural meant “purgatives”.^[6][2][8] Most of the word's ancient occurrences are in the medical writers of the 2nd century AD.^[8] Hierocles speaks of “purifying virtues”.^[6]

Medieval Greek used it of what purifies the soul, and the neuter as a noun for a purgative drug.^[9] Modern Greek καθαρτικός (kathartikós) is a learned continuation; its neuter καθαρτικό is the usual word for a laxative.^[10][11] Through New Latin catharticus it gave English cathartic (1610s, first of medicines).^[1][12]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of cleansing and of the art of purification; the Hippocratic writings use it of purges.^[6][7][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle calls certain melodies purifying.^[6][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch speaks of a purgative drug.^[6][2]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it often of purgative remedies.^[6][8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it of tears that purify and, as a noun, of a purgative.^[9]
• 1610s – English borrows cathartic through Latin, first of medicines.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fit for cleansing or purifying.^[6][7]
2. (of music) Having a purifying effect on the soul.^[7][6]
3. (medicine) Promoting a purge, laxative.^[6][2]
4. (as a noun, feminine) The art of purification.^[6][7]
5. (as a noun, neuter) A purgative drug.^[6][2]

Related words

• κάθαρσις (kátharsis)
• New Latin catharticus
• English cathartic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
4. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com