κριτής

Forms

κρῐτής (kritḗs) m (genitive κρῐτοῦ); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κρίνω (krī́nō, “to separate, decide, judge”) + -της (-tēs), an agent noun built on the short root of the verb.^[1][2][3] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to sift, separate”);^[1][4] its nasal present has matches in Latin cernō (“to separate, discern”) and Welsh gogrynu (“to sift”), and the verbal adjective κριτός (kritós) in certus (“decided, certain”).^[4]

Ancient etymologists explained the judge as one who separates and distinguishes, from the verb in that sense.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hipponax, in the 6th century BC, has the vocative.^[2] In Aeschylus it is a judge, and in the Persians an interpreter of dreams.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it was anyone who gives a judgement or assessment, in Herodotus, tragedy and the orators, and especially the umpire of a contest: at Athens, usually one of the judges of the dramatic and musical competitions.^[3][2] Thucydides sets the judges against the contestants, and Aristotle uses it for a supporter of a theory.^[2][3] It was only rarely a judge in a lawcourt, where the Attic word was δικαστής (dikastḗs).^[2] Polybius uses it for a literary critic.^[3]

The Septuagint uses it for judges and for the leaders of Israel before the kings, the Judges of the book of that name.^[7][2] The legal sense becomes common in later Greek, in Diodorus, Epictetus, inscriptions, papyri and the New Testament, where God and Christ are also called judge.^[8] A papyrus of the 2nd century AD uses it to render Latin iudex datus, a judge appointed by a magistrate.^[2] It was borrowed as Coptic ⲕⲣⲓⲧⲏⲥ (kritēs).^[9]

Modern Greek κριτής (kritís) continues the ancient word, for the judge of a contest and anyone who assesses something.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Hipponax uses the vocative form.^[2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for a judge and for an interpreter of dreams.^[2][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for the judges of the dramatic contests at Athens.^[2][3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a literary critic.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for a judge in court and for God as judge.^[8][3]
• 2nd century AD – A papyrus uses it for a judge appointed under Roman law.^[2]
• About AD 600 – The earliest dated Coptic manuscript with the loanword ⲕⲣⲓⲧⲏⲥ (kritēs) is written.^[9]
• Modern Greek – κριτής (kritís) still means a judge of a contest or anyone who assesses.^[10][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A judge, assessor, arbiter, of persons or things.^[2][3]
2. An umpire of a competition, especially of the dramatic and musical contests at Athens.^[2][3]
3. A judge with legal authority; rare before the Hellenistic period.^[3][8][2]
4. (Septuagint, New Testament) One of the Judges, the leaders of Israel before the kings.^[7][3]
5. An interpreter of dreams or inspired utterances.^[2][3]
6. A critic of literary works.^[3]
7. A supporter of a theory.^[3][2]

Related words

• κρίνω (krī́nō)
• κρίσις (krísis)
• κριτήριον (kritḗrion)
• κριτικός (kritikós)
• δικαστής (dikastḗs)
• Latin cernō
• English critic

Usage notes

Hesychius records a plural κριτάς glossed as “teeth”.^[2]

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 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 k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία