κατάλυσις

Forms

κᾰτάλῠσῐς (katálusis) f (genitive κᾰτάλῠσιεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

From καταλύω (katalū́ō, “to dissolve, to put an end to; to unharness, to lodge”) and the suffix -σις (-sis); it can also be analysed as κατα- (kata-) and λύσις (lúsis, “loosening”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the 5th century BC: Herodotus uses it for the lodgings on the Persian royal road, and Thucydides for the putting down of tyrants in Greece.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word follows the two senses of the verb.^[3][5] As “dissolution” it was used of putting down a government (in Athens, the overthrow of the democracy was a crime that any citizen could prosecute), of disbanding an army or a ship's crew, of ending a war, a dinner or a life, and of the cause of someone's ruin.^[3][5][6] From “unharnessing” for the night came the sense of resting and lodging, and then of the place where travellers stayed: Herodotus' stations and lodgings on the royal road, guest rooms in Plato.^[3][5][7] The word was one of the Greek names for an inn.^[8]

The Septuagint uses it both for the putting down of something and for a lodging or shelter, and Ignatius of Antioch for the abolition of death.^[9][10] Medieval Greek used it for abolition, ruin and death.^[11] Modern Greek κατάλυση (katálysi) is a learned word for the overthrow of a regime and for a stay in a place; in chemistry it means catalysis, borrowed back from English catalysis or French catalyse.^[12]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for lodgings, and Thucydides for the putting down of tyrants.^[3][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for disbanding an army and for the end of a dinner.^[3][5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for resting and for a dwelling.^[3][5]
• Modern Greek – The learned word means overthrow, a stay and, in chemistry, catalysis.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dissolution, putting down, overthrow of a government or ruler.^[3][5]
2. Dismissal, disbanding of an army, a crew or a gathering.^[3][5]
3. The ending of a war; generally, an end, of a dinner or a life.^[3][5]
4. A cause of ruin, an undoing.^[5]
5. Settlement of disputes.^[3]
6. (medicine) Weakness of the limbs.^[3]
7. Resting, taking up quarters; encamping.^[3][5]
8. A lodging, quarters, a resting-place for travellers or soldiers; an inn.^[3][5][8]

Related words

• καταλύω (katalū́ō)
• κατάλυμα (katáluma)
• λύσις (lúsis)
• English catalysis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Woitrain, Jean-Pierre (2023), Lexique grec, Prima Elementa
8. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki