κράτος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /krá.tos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈkra.tos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈkra.tos/^[1]

Forms

κρᾰ́τος (krátos) n (genitive κρᾰ́τους); third declension^[1] Epic and Ionic κάρτος, Aeolic κρέτος.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *krét-os, from the root *kret- (“strength”).^[1][2] The Aeolic κρέτος keeps the old full grade, while κράτος took its vowel from the adjective κρατύς (kratús, “strong”), which had the zero grade *kr̥t-.^[2][4][5][6] According to van Beek, Homeric κάρτος is an artificial form of the epic language: the dative κάρτεϊ replaced the metrically awkward κράτεϊ, on the model of the pair καρτερός (karterós) beside κρατερός (kraterós), and a new nominative followed.^[5]

No exact match is found in the other Indo-European languages.^[2] The closest are Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu-, “power, mind, will”) and its Avestan counterpart, meaning “mind, will”.^[2][4] Frisk notes that their mental sense is no obstacle, since Old English cræft means both strength and skill.^[2][4][1] The Germanic word for “hard”, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus) and English hard, is often connected, although its vowel does not match.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is mainly bodily strength: a warrior was killed “by guile, not by strength”, and youth has its flower, “which is the greatest strength”.^[3][7] It is also the might of the gods, especially Zeus, “whose power is greatest”, and authority, as in “his is the power in the house”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek κατὰ κράτος meant “with all one's might”, and a city taken κατὰ κράτος was taken by storm.^[3][8] Hesiod and Aeschylus personify Might: Kratos and Bia (Force) appear in the Prometheus.^[8][3] Above all it became political power and sovereignty: Alcaeus has Aeolic κρέτος of a man seeking supreme power, Herodotus speaks of handing power to the people, and Sophocles of tyrannical power.^[3] Thucydides says “great is the power of the sea”.^[6]

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for the might of God.^[9][10] Medieval vernacular Greek used it for strength, authority, government and dominion, and as a form of address to rulers, “your Might”.^[11]

In Modern Greek κράτος (krátos) means the state, as a learned equivalent of French état and German Staat;^[12] κατά κράτος means “completely”, as in a total defeat.^[6] Its compounds gave English words in -cracy.^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for bodily strength and for the might of Zeus.^[3][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod personifies Might.^[8][13]
• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses κρέτος for supreme political power.^[3][13]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus brings Kratos on stage in the Prometheus.^[3][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus speaks of giving power to the people.^[3][13]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses κατὰ κράτος for taking a city by storm.^[3][13]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses it as a form of address to rulers.^[11]
• Modern Greek – It means the state.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. strength, might, especially bodily strength.^[3][8]
2. κατὰ κράτος, with all one's might; by storm.^[3][8]
3. Might, power, authority, especially of the gods.^[3][8]
4. (personified) Might.^[3][8]
5. Political power, rule, sovereignty.^[3][8]
6. Victory, mastery.^[4]
7. (Homer) Of a bird of omen, its force as a sign.^[7]

Word family

• ἀκρατής (akratḗs)
• αὐτοκρατής (autokratḗs)
• ἐγκρατής (enkratḗs)
• ἐπικρατής (epikratḗs)
• κάρτα (kárta)
• κραταιός (krataiós)
• κρατερός (kraterós)
• κρατέω (kratéō)
• κρατύς (kratús)
• παγκρατής (pankratḗs)
• πολυκρατής (polukratḗs)
• κρείσσων (kreíssōn)
• κράτιστος (krátistos)
• αὐτοκράτωρ (autokrátōr)

Related words

• English aristocracy

Usage notes

Byzantine grammarians derived κράτος from κάρα (kára, “head”) or from κραίνω (kraínō, “to accomplish”).^[14]

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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
7. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ 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 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
13. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
14. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram