μετρικός

Forms

μετρῐκός (metrikós) m (feminine μετρῐκή, neuter μετρῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure; metre”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3]

Latin borrowed it as metricus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aristotle, who calls certain rhythms of speech “metrical”, that is, conforming to the units of verse, and who also uses it as a noun for the experts in metre and, in the feminine, for the art of metre itself.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged from the start to the theory of verse: “the metrical ones” were the scholars of metre, whom Dionysius of Halicarnassus sets against the “rhythmical ones”, the theorists of rhythm, and the feminine (with “art” understood) or the neuter plural named the study of metre, prosody.^[5][7][3] Galen used it in a more literal sense, “by measure”, as opposed to σταθμικός (stathmikós, “by weight”), and a 6th-century AD papyrus has it as a synonym of μετριακός (metriakós).^[5]

Modern Greek μετρικός (metrikós) is a learned word: its prosodic sense continues the ancient feminine noun, while its sense “relating to measurement”, as in the metric system, was taken from French métrique.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle speaks of metrical rhythms, of the metricians and of the art of metre.^[5][2][10]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus contrasts the metricians with the theorists of rhythm.^[5][3][10]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it of what is reckoned by measure rather than by weight.^[5][10]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus from London uses it in the sense of μετριακός (metriakós).^[5]
• Modern Greek – The word is a learned term in prosody and, after French métrique, in measurement.^[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Metrical, conforming to the units of verse.^[5][2][11]
2. (as a masculine noun, usually plural) An expert in metre, a metrician.^[5][2][12]
3. (as a feminine noun, with “art” understood, or as a neuter plural) The study of metre, prosody.^[5][2][13]
4. Measured by volume or length, as opposed to by weight.^[5]

Word family

• συμμετρικός (summetrikós)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
12. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
13. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press