μάκαρ

Forms

μᾰ́κᾰρ (mákar) m (feminine μᾰ́κᾰρ or μᾰ́καιρᾰ, neuter μᾰ́κᾰρ); first/third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, because its formation is isolated in Greek and its suffix varies between -ᾰρ and -ᾱρ, a variation typical of Pre-Greek suffixes.^[2][3][1] Brugmann, followed by Benveniste and Schwyzer, took it to be an old neuter noun meaning “blessedness” that became an adjective, and Chantraine accepts this, pointing to the rare forms μάκᾱρ (mákār) and μάκαρς (mákars) as nominative noun forms, but Beekes finds no support for it in the texts.^[4][2][5] Chantraine rejects an Egyptian origin as improbable and leaves the word without an etymology.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is the epithet of the gods, the blessed ones as opposed to mortals, and already of men favoured by the gods, as when Agamemnon is called blessed.^[6][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod, the lyric poets and tragedy use the plural μάκαρες for the gods, and Hesiod and Plato for the blessed dead who live in the Isles of the Blessed, the only use found in prose.^[6][4][7] Of men it means “happy, fortunate”, often in acclamations with ὦ, and Pindar uses it of a city or a hearth.^[7][6] The feminine is usually μάκαιρα, Boeotian μάκηρα (mákēra).^[6][7]

From it come the superlative μακάρτατος (makártatos) and the adjective μακάριος (makários), used from Pindar on, often in forms of address.^[5] Its neuter μακάριον gave Medieval and Modern Greek μακάρι (makári), “if only”, an interjection of wishing.^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of the gods and of fortunate men.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of the gods and of the blessed dead.^[6][4][10]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses the feminine μάκαιρα, and Solon the form μάκᾱρ.^[6][4][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of men, cities and the gods.^[6][7][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses μάκαρες of the blessed dead.^[4][10]
• Medieval Greek – The neuter μακάριον gave Modern Greek μακάρι (makári), “if only”.^[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of gods, blessed, happy; in the plural as a noun, the blessed gods.^[6][7]
2. Of people, fortunate, happy, blessed with wealth, victory or divine favour; also of a place.^[6][7]
3. In the plural as a noun, the blessed dead.^[4][6]

Word family

• μακάριος (makários)
• μακαρίζω (makarízō)
• μακάρτατος (makártatos)

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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge