μουσικός

Forms

μουσῐκός (mousikós) m (feminine μουσῐκή, neuter μουσῐκόν); first/second declension^[1] Doric μωσικός.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa, “Muse”) + -ικός (-ikós), “belonging to the Muses”.^[1][4] The origin of the Muses' name is uncertain: Beekes compares μανθάνω (manthánō, “to learn”), since the Muses are linked with memory, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think, remember”), but notes that the word could also be Pre-Greek.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest text in the GLAUx corpus with the word is Pindar's first Olympian, where the feminine stands for the art of the Muses, μουσική (mousikḗ).^[5][4] As an adjective of persons and things it is found from the 5th century BC, in Thucydides' musical contests and Euripides.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Attic it meant “musical”, of contests and shows (Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato), and of people and birds skilled in music; as a noun it meant a musician, and Plato uses it for a lyric poet as opposed to an epic one.^[3][2] Because the Muses presided over poetry and learning as well as music, it also meant cultured or accomplished: Aristophanes sets the μουσικός man against the ignorant one, and Isocrates calls Mytilene a city full of the liberal arts.^[2][3] Of things it could mean elegant or delicate, and the adverb meant harmoniously, fittingly.^[2] The art itself was μουσική (mousikḗ).^[4]

Hellenistic inscriptions and papyri use the masculine for professional musicians, and in the New Testament musicians are named beside harpists, flute-players and trumpeters.^[2][7] Latin borrowed the word as Latin mūsicus.^[1][8]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it of what is melodious or harmonious, the masculine for a singer or composer, and the neuter plural for musical instruments.^[9] Modern Greek μουσικός (mousikós) is a learned word: the adjective means relating to music, with the sense “melodious” modelled on French musical, and the noun means a musician.^[10]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar's first Olympian uses the feminine for the art of music.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides speaks of musical contests.^[2][3][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a cultured man, opposed to an ignorant one, and Plato for a lyric poet.^[2][3][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the masculine for a musician and for a cultured man.^[3][6]
• 1st century BC – An inscription from Commagene uses it for professional musicians.^[2]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it of melodious instruments and birds, and the masculine for a singer.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned μουσικός (mousikós) means musical and, as a noun, a musician.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to music; of contests and shows, musical; the neuter plural τὰ μουσικά means music.^[3][2]
2. Of persons and birds, skilled in music, musical; as a noun, a musician; a lyric poet as opposed to an epic one.^[3][2][7]
3. Devoted to the arts of the Muses, cultured, accomplished; as a noun, a man of letters, a scholar.^[3][2]
4. Attuned or apt (with an infinitive, for speaking before a crowd).^[3][2]
5. Of things, elegant, delicate; harmonious, fitting.^[2]
6. Of a degree of wealth, suitable for a particular kind of person.^[3]

Word family

• μουσική (mousikḗ)

Related words

• Μοῦσα (Moûsa)
• Latin mūsicus
• English music

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki