μεταβολικός

Forms

μεταβολικός (metabolikós), -ή, -όν; adjective of the first and second declensions.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[3][4][5] μεταβολή is the noun of μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Polybius, in the 2nd century BC, is the first to use it, of a changeable manner.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Plutarch uses it of parts that are subject to change, Vettius Valens of fickle people, and Simplicius of a mutable nature.^[1] Grammarians had technical uses: Sextus Empiricus calls alpha, iota and upsilon “changeable” vowels, because they can be long or short, and Hephaestion uses the adverb of a change of metre.^[1][6][7] A retail shop could be called by it, a sense that goes with μεταβόλος (metabólos, “trader”).^[1][7] The word is rare: GLAUx has five examples.^[8]

In biology the word was revived with a new sense: German metabolisch (1839) and English metabolic (1845) were formed from it for what concerns metabolism.^[5] Modern Greek μεταβολικός (metavolikós) combines the Late Greek word for “changeable” with French métabolique and English metabolic, and means “metabolic”.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a changeable manner.^[1][2]
• 1st to 2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of parts subject to change.^[1][8]
• 2nd century AD – Vettius Valens applies it to people.^[1]
• 2nd century AD – Hephaestion uses the adverb for a change of metre.^[1]
• 2nd to 3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus calls the vowels alpha, iota and upsilon “changeable”.^[1][6]
• 1839 – German metabolisch is formed from it in biology.^[5]
• 1845 – The English word metabolic is first recorded in its biological sense.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Changeable, variable; subject to change, mutable.^[1][2][6]
2. (grammar) Of the vowels alpha, iota and upsilon: of doubtful quantity, long or short.^[1][6][7]
3. (commerce) Of trade: a καπηλεῖον (kapēleîon) described by it is a retail shop.^[1][7]

Related words

• μεταβολή (metabolḗ)
• μεταβάλλω (metabállō)
• English metabolic

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
7. ^ a b c d Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
10. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος