μύστης

Forms

μῠ́στης (mústēs) m (genitive μῠ́στου); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun in -της (-tēs), formed on μυέω (muéō, “to initiate”), itself from Ancient Greek μύω (múō, “to close (the eyes or lips)”).^[1][2][3] The name probably meant “one who closes his eyes”, as opposed to ἐπόπτης (epóptēs), the “watcher” who had reached the highest grade of the mysteries;^[2] the CGL and Babiniotis add the alternative that the initiate closed his lips, to keep the secret.^[4][3] The origin of the verb is uncertain: its root may be Proto-Indo-European *meus- or Proto-Indo-European *meuH-, and a link with Hittite munnae-zi (“to hide”) has been proposed.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a fragment of Heraclitus, in the 6th–5th century BC, who speaks of the “initiates”.^[5][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word meant one initiated into mysteries, above all the Eleusinian ones;^[2] Xenophon mentions the herald of the initiates, and Aristophanes speaks of the dances of initiates.^[6][4] With a genitive it named an initiate of a particular god, as in Euripides' “initiate of Idaean Zeus”.^[6][4] Later it was a title of Dionysus and of Apollo, and a lamp that lit a night festival could be called a “mystic” lamp.^[6] The Septuagint uses it once, in the Book of Wisdom.^[7]

Latin borrowed it as mystes.^[8] In medieval Greek it meant an initiate or follower, as in “initiate of Christ”, and also a confidant.^[9] Modern Greek μύστης (místis) is learned: an initiate, the founder of a religion, or a deep connoisseur of a science or an art.^[10]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus speaks of the initiates.^[6][5][3]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it with the genitive of a god.^[6][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes speaks of the dances of initiates, and Xenophon mentions the herald of the initiates.^[6][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians uses it.^[6]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias records it as a name of Dionysus, and Artemidorus as one of Apollo.^[6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a follower of Christ and for a confidant.^[9]
• Modern Greek – μύστης (místis) is a learned word for an initiate or a deep connoisseur.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. One initiated into the mysteries, especially those of Eleusis.^[6][4]
2. With the genitive: an initiate of a particular god.^[6][4]
3. (as an adjective) Of initiates, as of dances or a lamp.^[4][6]
4. A name of Dionysus, and of Apollo.^[6]

Related words

• μυέω (muéō)
• μύω (múō)
• μυστήριον (mustḗrion)
• μυστικός (mustikós)
• Latin mystes

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
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. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
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