μοναχός

Forms

μονᾰχός (monakhós) m (feminine μονᾰχή, neuter μονᾰχόν); first/second declension^[1] Medieval also μονάχος, μαναχός and αμοναχός.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone, only”).^[1][3][4] Papyros and Babiniotis explain that the adjective was made from the stem of the older adverbs μοναχῇ (monakhêi, “in one way only”) and μοναχοῦ (monakhoû, “only in one place”), which Plato and Xenophon already use.^[5][6][7]

Ancient writers explained the monk's name as “one who prays to God alone”, or as “one who has griefs alone”.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective first appears in Aristotle's Metaphysics, meaning “unique, single”.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic and later prose it means single or only: Epicurus and Diodorus use it, Ptolemy speaks of “only” children, Philodemus of individual cases, and Plotinus has the neuter for uniqueness.^[10][6] In papyri it describes a legal document made in a single copy and a garment woven in one piece.^[10][12]

The masculine used as a noun came to mean a Christian who lives an ascetic, solitary life, a monk: the New Pauly finds it in Eusebius' commentary on the Psalms and in Egyptian papyri of the same time, and Babiniotis dates the sense to the 4th century.^[13][6] The feminine became the word for a nun.^[5][14] Coptic took the noun over as Coptic ⲙⲟⲛⲁⲭⲟⲥ (monakhos).^[15]

Latin borrowed the noun as monachus, the source of French moine and German Mönch.^[5] English monk goes back, through Old English, to a Vulgar Latin form of it.^[16]

In medieval vernacular Greek the adjective meant “alone, by oneself”.^[2] Modern Greek keeps μοναχός (monachós) as the learned word for a monk, and the adjective μοναχός or μονάχος, “alone”.^[14][17]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for what is unique or single.^[10][11]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it of what is single.^[10]
• 2nd century AD – Ptolemy speaks of “only” children; papyri describe garments woven in one piece.^[10][12]
• 3rd–4th century AD – Eusebius uses it for the ascetic Christian, the monk.^[13]
• 4th–5th century AD – Palladas uses the noun “monk” in an epigram.^[10]
• 6th century AD – Procopius uses it for monks.^[10]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses the adjective for “alone”.^[2]
• Modern Greek – μοναχός (monachós) is a monk, and the adjective means “alone”.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unique, single.^[10][11]
2. Only: of children who have no brothers or sisters.^[10]
3. (papyri) Of a legal document, made in a single copy; of a garment, woven in one piece.^[10][12]
4. Solitary, deserted.^[10]

Noun

1. A monk, a Christian who lives an ascetic life apart from the world.^[10][13][6]

Related words

• μοναστήριον (monastḗrion)
• μόνος (mónos)
• Latin monachus
• English monk

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
12. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
13. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
14. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ Πολυλεξικό, in the encyclopedia Επιστήμη και Ζωή, Athens