μεταβολή

Forms

μετᾰβολή (metabolḗ) f (genitive μετᾰβολῆς); first declension^[1] Doric μεταβολά.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change”) + -ή (-ḗ), an abstract noun from the verb.^[1][4][5] The verb is a compound of μετά (metá) and βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), and the noun has the /o/ grade of the root, as in βολή (bolḗ).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pindar has it in the plural for the shifting of sails, and Heraclitus in a fragment on changes.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

In classical prose it is the general word for change: a change of clothing in Xenophon, of inhabitants in Thucydides, of seasons in Herodotus and Aristotle.^[8][2] It also meant exchange and barter, “with a view to trade” in Thucydides.^[8][2] In history and political philosophy it is a change of government or a revolution, and Plato writes of the change from an oligarchic man to a money-loving one, or from a leader of the people to a tyrant.^[8][2] Herodotus uses it for the sudden change from day to night in an eclipse.^[8][2] Euripides gave the proverb “change in all things is sweet” (Orestes 234), which Aristotle quotes.^[8]

Technical uses followed: in music theory, modulation (Aristoxenus); in Polybius, the military wheeling about of troops; and in late writers, a euphemism for death.^[8][2] In the papyri it is a turnover in business and a payment by transfer.^[8] Coptic borrowed it as ⲙⲉⲧⲁⲃⲟⲗⲏ (metabolē).^[10]

It survives in Modern Greek as a learned word, Modern Greek μεταβολή (metavolí), “change, alteration”, and also the about-turn of soldiers and its word of command.^[11][3] Through French métabolisme it gave English metabolism, first used in physiology in 1878.^[12]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the shifting of sails.^[8][2][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the changes of the seasons and for an eclipse.^[8][2][13]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for barter and for a change of government.^[8][2][13]
• 5th century BC – Euripides coins the saying that change in all things is sweet.^[8][13]
• 4th century BC – Aristoxenus uses it for modulation in music.^[8][13]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the wheeling about of troops.^[8][2][13]
• About AD 900 – Sahidic Coptic texts have the borrowing ⲙⲉⲧⲁⲃⲟⲗⲏ (metabolē).^[10]
• 1878 – English metabolism is first recorded, from French, in physiology.^[12]
• Modern Greek – μεταβολή (metavolí) is a learned word for “change”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A change of one thing for another: of sails, clothing, inhabitants, rulers.^[8][2]
2. Exchange, barter, trade.^[8][2]
3. A change from one condition to another, transition; in the plural, vicissitudes.^[8][2]
4. A change of government, revolution.^[2]
5. A change in the weather or the sky; an eclipse.^[2][8]
6. A wheeling about of troops or ships.^[2][8]
7. A change of mind; ἐκ μεταβολῆς, with a change of heart, or conversely, in turn.^[2]
8. (music) Modulation.^[8]
9. (papyri) A turnover in business; a payment by transfer.^[8]

Related words

• μεταβάλλω (metabállō)
• βολή (bolḗ)
• English metabolism

Usage notes

Euripides' line μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ, “change in all things is sweet” (Orestes 234), was quoted as a proverb by Aristotle.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
7. ^ Πολυλεξικό, in the encyclopedia Επιστήμη και Ζωή, Athens
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge