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μαντεία

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word μαντεία

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
600s BC Tyrtaeus More words from the 7th century BC
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μάντις

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /man.těː.aː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /manˈti.a/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /manˈti.a/[1]

Forms

μᾰντείᾱ (manteíā) f (genitive μᾰντείᾱς); first declension[1] Epic μαντείη (manteíē), Ionic μαντηΐη (mantēíē).[2][3]

Etymology

It is the abstract noun from Ancient Greek μαντεύομαι (manteúomai, “to divine, consult an oracle”),[2][3][4] the verb formed on μάντις (mántis, “seer, prophet”).[4] Wiktionary forms it directly on the noun, with the suffix -ία (-íā).[1] The noun for the seer seems to come from μαίνομαι (maínomai, “to rage, be inspired”), but Beekes finds its vowel hard to explain.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records are in Tyrtaeus, who uses the plural for oracles, and in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, for prophetic power.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 5th century it is a mode of divination in Herodotus and the art of the seer in Sophocles and Euripides; in Sophocles a riddle “needed divination”.[2][3] Plato uses it for an oracle, for divination in sleep, for a guess, and ironically for a speaker's obscure, oracular language.[2][3] Aristotle and Lucian use it for “conjecture”.[2]

In the Septuagint it is divination, the forbidden practice of the diviner in Deuteronomy.[5] The magical papyri ask a god for prophecy.[6] Medieval Greek also used it for magic.[7] Modern Greek has the learned μαντεία (manteía), an oracle or the gift of foretelling the future.[8]

Latin took the ending of its compounds as Late Latin -mantia, whence French -mancie and English -mancy, “divination by means of”.[9][1]

Timeline

  • 7th century BC – Tyrtaeus uses the plural for oracles.[2][3][10]
  • 6th century BC (probably) – The Homeric Hymn to Hermes uses it for prophetic power.[2][3][11]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a mode of divination, and Sophocles for the seer's art.[2][3][10]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for an oracle and for oracular, obscure language.[2][3][10]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for conjecture.[2][10]
  • 2nd century AD – Lucian contrasts seeking truth by guesswork with seeking it by judgement.[2][10]
  • 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for an oracle, the art of divination and a magical act.[7]
  • Modern Greek – The learned μαντεία (manteía) is an oracle or the gift of prophecy.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Prophetic power, the art of divination.[2][3]
  2. A mode of divination.[2][3]
  3. An oracle, prophecy.[2][3][5]
  4. Oracular, obscure language.[2][3]
  5. Conjecture, guess.[2][3]

Word family

  • ἡλιομαντεία (hēliomanteíā)
  • ῥαβδομαντεία (rhabdomanteíā)
  • ὑδρομαντεία (hudromanteíā)
  • φιαλομαντεία (phialomanteíā)
  • μαντεῖον (manteîon)
  • μαντική (mantikḗ)
  • English -mancy

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c 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
  5. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  6. ^ Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
  7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
Cite this entry

“Μαντεία.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%B1. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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