ναύτης

Forms

ναύτης (naútēs) m (genitive ναύτου); first declension^[1] Doric ναύτας; papyri also have ναύστης, with an analogical /s/.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ναῦς (naûs, “ship”) + -της (-tēs), with the agent suffix.^[1][2] The noun is from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂u- (“ship”), an old Indo-European word for the ship.^[2][4] Cognate with Sanskrit नौ (naú, “ship”), Latin nāvis and Old Irish nau.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for a seaman or sailor in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it was a seaman, whether on one voyage or by trade, and Euripides used it as an adjective of a band of sailors.^[3][6] Aeschylus opposed it to πεζός, “by land”, and Sophocles used it for a passenger by sea.^[6] The elegist Dionysius called drinking companions “sailors of the symposium”.^[6][3] The New Testament uses it for the sailors of Paul's ship, in Acts, and in Revelation.^[7]

Many derivatives grew from it: ναυτικός (nautikós) “of sailors, nautical”, ναυτίλος (nautílos) “seaman”, also the paper nautilus, and ναυτία (nautía) “seasickness, disgust”.^[2] Latin nauta and nausea were borrowed from Greek.^[2]

Medieval Greek kept the word, and it survives as Modern Greek ναύτης (náftis), a member of a ship's crew and the lowest rank in the navy.^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a seaman.^[5][6]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of going by sea, opposed to going on foot.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for a passenger by sea.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Dionysius Chalcus calls fellow drinkers “sailors of the symposium”.^[6][3]
• 1st century AD – Acts and Revelation use it for sailors.^[7]
• Modern Greek – ναύτης (náftis) means a seaman and a navy rating.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seaman, sailor.^[6][3]
2. A passenger on a ship.^[6]
3. (figurative) A companion at a drinking party.^[6][3]
4. (as an adjective) Made up of sailors; going by sea.^[6][3]

Related words

• ναῦς (naûs)
• ναυτικός (nautikós)
• ναυτίλος (nautílos)
• ναυτία (nautía)
• Latin nauta

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ 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
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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki