μακάριος

Forms

μᾰκάρῐος (makários) m (feminine μᾰκᾰρίᾱ, neuter μᾰκάρῐον); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μάκαρ (mákar, “blessed”) + -ιος (-ios),^[1][2][3] and LSJ calls it a collateral form of the base adjective, used mostly in prose.^[4]

The base adjective is already Homeric, and its origin is unclear.^[3][2] Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because its formation is isolated within Greek and its ending varies between ⟨αρ⟩ and ⟨ᾱρ⟩.^[2] He rejects Brugmann's idea that it was first a neuter noun meaning “blessedness”, which the texts do not support.^[2] Babiniotis too thinks it probably a loanword, perhaps from Pre-Greek.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Pindar, who uses it of people blessed with happiness (Pythian 5.46).^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

Euripides uses it often, and in prose it became the usual word for “happy, fortunate”: Plato pairs it with εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn), and Aristotle distinguishes the two.^[4][5] It could mean simply “well off”, as when Aristotle sets the prosperous against the needy, and it was said of the blessed dead.^[4][5] In exclamations and in address (ὦ μακάριε) it congratulated someone on their luck, sometimes with irony.^[5][3] Inscriptions use the formula μακαρίας μνήμης, “of blessed memory”.^[4]

In the New Testament it is “blessed” in the religious sense, favoured by God, as in “blessed are the poor in spirit”.^[5][6][7] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the senses “happy” and “blessed” and used it of the dead; the superlative was an honorific title of high churchmen, given to the Pope by Doukas.^[8] Modern Greek uses μακάριος (makários) as a learned word for “perfectly happy” and “serene”, and ironically, as in “blissful ignorance”.^[7]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of people blessed with happiness.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it often, also in exclamations of congratulation.^[4][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of the blessed dead.^[4][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes it from εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn) and uses it of the prosperous.^[4][5]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses the superlative as a title of high churchmen.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned word means “perfectly happy” or “serene”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Blessed with happiness; happy, fortunate.^[4][5]
2. Of the dead: blessed, departed.^[4][5]
3. Prosperous, well off.^[5][4]
4. In exclamations and in address, often with ὦ: “happy man!”, congratulating someone, at times ironically.^[5][4]
5. (New Testament) Blessed by divine favour.^[5][6]

Word family

• μακαριότης (makariótēs)
• μακαρίζω (makarízō)

Related words

• μάκαρ (mákar)
• μακαρίτης (makarítēs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr