μεγαλόψυχος

Forms

μεγᾰλόψῡχος (megalópsūkhos) m or f (neuter μεγᾰλόψῡχον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great”) + ψυχή (psūkhḗ, “soul, spirit”), “having a great soul”.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Isocrates uses it in the Evagoras of noble, high-souled people.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the classical period it describes a person of noble and generous spirit: Isocrates, Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics and the Attic orators use it.^[4][2][5] Demosthenes has the comparative and the adverb, of behaving generously towards others.^[4] The Second Alcibiades ascribed to Plato uses it in a bad sense, of an exalted, romantic spirit.^[4][5]

Polybius pairs it with “beneficent” in the sense of liberal, and uses the neuter as a noun meaning magnanimity, as Plutarch does; both also apply it to character and conduct.^[4][2] The Fourth Book of Maccabees uses it for “generous”.^[6] Latin rendered it by the calque Latin magnanimus.^[1]

In medieval vernacular Greek it meant high-minded, patient and also inspired or grand.^[7] It survives as a learned word, Modern Greek μεγαλόψυχος (megalópsychos), for a person generous enough to forgive and help others, the opposite of μικρόψυχος (mikrópsychos).^[8]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates uses it of high-souled, generous people, and the Second Alcibiades ascribed to Plato of an exalted, romantic mind.^[4][5][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in the Nicomachean Ethics, and Demosthenes has the comparative and the adverb.^[4][9]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius joins it with “beneficent” and uses the neuter as a noun for magnanimity.^[4][2][9]
• 1st century BC – An inscription from Egypt uses the adverb.^[4]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch applies it to character and conduct, and uses the adverb of bearing a misfortune nobly.^[2][4][9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for high-minded, patient and inspired.^[7]
• Modern Greek – μεγαλόψυχος (megalópsychos) is a learned word for a generous and forgiving person.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a person: high-souled, magnanimous, generous.^[4][2]
2. Of character or conduct: noble, generous.^[2]
3. (as a noun, neuter) magnanimity.^[4]
4. In a bad sense: exalted, romantic, quixotic.^[4][5]

Word family

• μεγαλοψυχία (megalopsukhía)

Related words

• μέγας (mégas)
• ψυχή (psūkhḗ)
• μικρόψυχος (mīkrópsūkhos)
• Latin magnanimus

Usage notes

The adverb μεγαλοψύχως (megalopsúkhōs) means generously or nobly: Demosthenes uses it of the way one behaves towards others, Polybius of handling affairs and Plutarch of bearing a misfortune.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
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. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge