κρίσις

Forms

κρῐ́σῐς (krísis) f (genitive κρῐ́σεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κρίνω (krī́nō, “to separate, decide”) + -σις (-sis).^[1][2][3] The verb is *kríňňō, from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to sift, separate”).^[1] Its nasal present matches Latin cernō, and its verbal adjective κριτός (kritós) matches certus.^[4] Chantraine notes that the root's sense “separate” was specialised in Greek as “judge”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Parmenides uses it of the decision about being and not-being, and Melissus of distinguishing the full from the empty.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 5th century BC it was a decision or judgement (Aeschylus, Herodotus), a contest or trial of skill (Pindar, Sophocles), and the judging of rival claims, such as the Judgement of Paris or of the arms of Achilles.^[2][3] In Attic law it was a trial and its verdict, and Thucydides uses it of the decision of a war.^[2][3] Hippocratic medicine used it of the turning point of a disease, a sudden change for better or worse, and Galen continued this use.^[2]

The Septuagint and Diodorus use it of the interpretation of dreams, and the New Testament speaks of the Day of Judgement.^[2][5] Coptic borrowed it.^[6] The medical sense passed through Latin into English crisis in the early 15th century, with the general sense by the 1620s.^[7]

Medieval Greek kept the word.^[8] Modern κρίση (krísi) means judgement and opinion, and in a learned sense taken from French crise a crisis.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides uses it of a decision.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Aeschylus use it of judgement, Pindar and Sophocles of a contest.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of a trial and of the outcome of a war.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use it of the turning point of a disease.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of the Day of Judgement.^[2][5]
• Early 15th century – English borrows it, through Latin, as crisis in the medical sense.^[7]
• Modern Greek – κρίση (krísi) means judgement and, after French, crisis.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Separation, distinguishing.^[2]
2. Decision, judgement, verdict.^[2][3]
3. Choice, election.^[2][3]
4. (law) A trial, suit; its outcome, condemnation.^[2][3]
5. A contest, trial of skill or strength; the judging of rivals.^[2][3]
6. Dispute.^[2]
7. Outcome, issue, of a war or affair.^[2][3]
8. (medicine) The turning point of a disease.^[2]
9. (Koine) Interpretation of dreams or portents.^[2]
10. (New Testament) Divine judgement, and ἡμέρα κρίσεως, the Day of Judgement.^[2][5]

Word family

• κρίσιμος (krísimos)

Related words

• ἀνάκρισις (anákrisis)
• ἀνταπόκρισις (antapókrisis)
• ἀπόκρισις (apókrisis)
• διάκρισις (diákrisis)
• ἐπίκρισις (epíkrisis)
• πρόκρισις (prókrisis)
• ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis)
• English crisis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
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. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki