λαϊκός

Forms

λᾱῐ̈κός (lāïkós) m (feminine λᾱῐ̈κή, neuter λᾱῐ̈κόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek λαός (lāós, “people”) + -ικός (-ikós), so “of the people”.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a 3rd-century BC papyrus from Lille, meaning “belonging to the people”, that is civil and unofficial as opposed to official.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Other papyri of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC use it in the same way.^[6][5] The Septuagint does not have it, but the later translators Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion use it for what is common or profane as opposed to holy, such as ordinary bread set against consecrated bread.^[6][4]

In the Church it became the word for a layman, set against the clergy: the First Epistle of Clement speaks of the lay person bound by the rules for the laity, and Clement of Alexandria and later Christian writers use it.^[6][5] Basil of Caesarea speaks of a lay order, John Moschus opposes the layman to the monk, and the laws of Justinian set it against κληρικός (klērikós).^[4][5]

It was borrowed as Latin lāicus,^[1] which gave the English word lay (not of the clergy) through Old French in the early 14th century, and laic through French in the 1560s.^[7] Medieval Greek kept the word.^[8] Modern Greek λαϊκός (laïkós) is a learned word: in the senses “popular, of the people” and “folk” it follows Hellenistic usage and French populaire, and in the sense “lay” it continues the Hellenistic Christian use.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 3rd century BC – A papyrus from Lille uses it for what belongs to the people, as opposed to official.^[4][6]
• 2nd century BC – A Strasbourg papyrus uses it in the same sense.^[6][5]
• 2nd century AD – Aquila uses it for what is common, not holy.^[6][4][11]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Clement of Alexandria uses it for the laity, as opposed to the clergy.^[6][5][11]
• 4th century AD – Basil of Caesarea speaks of a lay order in the Church.^[4][11]
• Early 14th century – English borrows lay, through Latin and Old French.^[7]
• 1560s – English borrows laic from French.^[7]
• Modern Greek – λαϊκός (laïkós) means “of the people, popular, folk” and “lay”.^[9][12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the people; civil, not official.^[4][5][6]
2. Common, profane, not holy.^[4][6][5]
3. (Christian) Lay, not of the clergy: λαϊκὸν τάγμα, the lay order.^[4][6]

Noun

1. (Christian) A layman, as opposed to a cleric or a monk.^[4][5][13]

Related words

• λαός (lāós)
• Latin lāicus
• English lay
• English laic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Montanari, Franco (2015), The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek, ed. Madeleine Goh and Chad Schroeder, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Woitrain, Jean-Pierre (2023), Lexique grec, Prima Elementa
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
7. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
13. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg