μανικός

Forms

μᾰνῐκός (manikós) m (feminine μᾰνῐκή, neuter μᾰνῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μανία (maníā, “madness”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1] Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk list it among the Ionic-Attic derivatives of the noun, beside μανιώδης (maniṓdēs).^[2][3][4] The noun is formed from μαίνομαι (maínomai, “to rage, be mad”),^[1] a yod-present that Beekes derives from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think of, remember”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristophanes' Wasps has μανικὰ πράγματα, “mad goings-on”, and the Hippocratic writings use it of diseases of madness.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was used both of real madness and of mad behaviour: the Hippocratic Prognostic calls a sign a symptom of madness, while Isocrates, Plato and Xenophon use it of extravagant, crazy conduct, such as a mania for horses.^[5][7] In the Phaedrus Plato calls the prophetic art ἡ μανική, linking it with μαντική, “prophecy”.^[5][7] Aristotle uses it of the inspired temperament: poetry, he says, belongs to the gifted or to the frenzied.^[5]

Medieval Greek kept the word for mad and furious, and figuratively for unrestrained speech and raging fire.^[8] In Modern Greek the usual word is μανιακός, to which Πάπυρος refers.^[9] English manic (1902) is a separate formation, from mania and -ic.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use it of diseases and symptoms of madness.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes speaks of mad goings-on, and Isocrates and Plato use it of extravagant conduct.^[5][7][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the frenzied, inspired temperament of poets.^[5][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch has the adverb μανικῶς (manikôs) of a raging fever.^[5][11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for mad and violent, and figuratively of fire.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for madness, mad; as a noun (neuter), a symptom of madness.^[5][7]
2. Mad, extravagant, crazy, of conduct and statements.^[5][7]
3. Disposed to madness, unbalanced, of persons.^[5][7]
4. Frenzied, inspired, enthusiastic.^[5]
5. As a feminine noun, ἡ μανική, the art of inspired madness, prophecy (Plato).^[5][7]

Related words

• μανία (maníā)
• μαίνομαι (maínomai)
• μανιώδης (maniṓdēs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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
4. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge