μουσική

Forms

μουσῐκή (mousikḗ) f (genitive μουσῐκῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek μουσικός (mousikós, “of the Muses, musical”), whose feminine was used as a noun by ellipsis of τέχνη (tékhnē, “art”): “the art of the Muses”.^[1][2][3] The adjective is formed from Μοῦσα (Moûsa, “Muse”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Pindar's Olympian Odes, means the art of the Muses, above all poetry sung to music.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 5th century BC it named music together with singing, in Herodotus, Thucydides (who speaks of a musical contest) and Aristophanes.^[4][2] It could also mean poetry with no thought of music, in Aristophanes and Plato.^[4] In a broader sense it took in all the arts and letters that made up a proper education: Plato names music, letters and gymnastics as branches of schooling, and Aristotle adds drawing.^[2][4] Euripides used it figuratively of the precise art of a shield's design.^[2]

Latin borrowed the word as mūsica, and Arabic as مُوسِيقَى (mūsīqā).^[5][1] In medieval vernacular Greek it also named a stringed instrument.^[6] Modern Greek μουσική (mousikí), the art of combining sounds, is a learned word whose sense was taken from Italian musica and French musique, themselves from the Latin word.^[7]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of the art of the Muses, poetry sung to music.^[2][8][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of music and musical contests.^[2][4][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato makes it, with letters and gymnastics, a branch of education, and uses it of the arts and letters in general.^[2][4][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle adds drawing to music, letters and gymnastics in his scheme of education.^[2][8]
• Medieval period – A vernacular text uses it for a stringed instrument.^[6]
• Modern Greek – μουσική (mousikí) is the art of music, with its sense taken from Italian and French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any art over which the Muses (Moûsai) presided, especially lyric poetry sung to music; music including singing.^[2][4]
2. Poetry, without reference to music.^[4]
3. Music and poetry as parts of education; the arts and letters, culture.^[4][2]
4. A musical contest.^[2]
5. (Medieval Greek) A stringed instrument.^[6]

Related words

• μουσικός (mousikós)
• Μοῦσα (Moûsa)
• Latin musica
• English music

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge