κατηγορέω

Forms

κᾰτηγορέω (katēgoréō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κατήγορος (katḗgoros, “accuser”) + -έω (-éō).^[1][2] Wiktionary also allows a direct formation from κατά (katá, “against”) and ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak in the assembly”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus uses it in the Agamemnon for a face that betrays one's joy, and Herodotus for accusing someone and for alleging a thing in accusation.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Attic it is above all a legal term: to speak against someone before judges, to accuse, to be the prosecutor in a lawsuit, and in the passive to be accused; its opposite is ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai), to speak in defence.^[2][4] It also meant to criticize or condemn more generally, to give incriminating evidence, and to betray or reveal something, as a garment or the name of a river reveals whether it is Greek or foreign.^[2]

Aristotle made it a term of logic: to predicate a quality of a thing; the neuter plural of the passive participle named predicates, or categories.^[2] In the New Testament it is a legal term of bringing charges, before a human court or before God's tribunal.^[5] It was borrowed into Coptic, where it is recorded from about AD 400.^[6] Modern Greek has it as the learned κατηγορώ (katigoró), to accuse.^[7]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a face betraying joy.^[3][2][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for accusing and for laying a charge.^[2][4][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and the Attic orators use it for acting as prosecutor in court.^[2][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in logic for predicating something of a thing.^[2][8]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for bringing charges in court.^[5]
• About AD 400 – A Sahidic Coptic manuscript has the borrowed verb.^[6]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the learned κατηγορώ (katigoró).^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To speak against, criticize or condemn someone or something.^[2][4]
2. To accuse someone, especially before judges; to bring a charge of something against someone; in the passive, to be accused.^[2][4][5]
3. To deliver a speech of accusation; to be the prosecutor or plaintiff in a lawsuit.^[2]
4. To give evidence against someone, incriminate.^[2]
5. To betray, reveal or show; impersonally, it shows that something is the case.^[2][1]
6. (philosophy) To predicate a quality of a thing.^[2][1]

Word family

• κατηγόρημα (katēgórēma)
• κατηγορία (katēgoríā)

Related words

• κατήγορος (katḗgoros)
• ἀγορεύω (agoreúō)
• ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
4. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge