λόγιον

Forms

λόγῐον (lógion) n (genitive λογίου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos, “word, saying”) + -ιον (-ion).^[1] Beekes and Frisk list it as the neuter of the adjective λόγιος (lógios), used as a noun.^[2][3] The noun λόγος (lógos) is from λέγω (légō, “to say”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus and Euripides (5th century BC) use it for an oracle, especially an old one handed down, and mostly in the plural.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Thucydides sets λόγια beside χρησμοί (khrēsmoí) in his account of the prophecies circulating at the start of the war; an ancient commentator took the first for oracles in prose and the second for oracles in verse, a distinction that LSJ finds does not hold.^[4] Aristophanes mocks the oracle-mongers of Athens with them, and Plutarch uses the word of the Sibylline books.^[4][7] The Boeotian poet Corinna uses it for a story.^[5]

The Septuagint uses it for the words of the Lord and for the High Priest's oracular breastplate.^[8][4] In the New Testament the plural means the revelations received by Moses and God's words entrusted to the Jews.^[7][5] Medieval Greek used it for a saying from Scripture or another church text.^[9] Babiniotis traces Modern Greek λόγια (lógia), “words”, to its plural, the general sense “sayings” being Hellenistic.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of oracles, especially old ones, and Euripides of oracles in the Heraclidae.^[4][6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides contrasts λόγια with χρησμοί (khrēsmoí), and Corinna uses it for a story.^[4][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes mocks the oracle-mongers in the Knights.^[4][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of oracles in several Lives.^[4][7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular medieval Greek uses it for a saying from Scripture.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oracle, especially one preserved from ancient times; mostly plural.^[4][5]
2. A story or tale.^[5]
3. (Koine) A word of God; in the plural, the sayings of the Lord or the revelations of Scripture.^[4][7][8]
4. (Septuagint) The oracular breastplate of the Jewish High Priest.^[4][8]

Related words

• λόγος (lógos)
• λόγιος (lógios)
• λέγω (légō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας