Etymologically
Log in

νόστος

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 03:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /nós.tos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈnos.tos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈnos.tos/[1]

Forms

νόστος (nóstos) m (genitive νόστου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *nóstos,[1] a noun in -τος with the o-grade of the root of νέομαι (néomai, “to return home”), Proto-Indo-European *nes- (“to return home safely”).[1][2][3] It shows that νέομαι stands for *νέσ-ομαι.[4]

The verb corresponds to Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (ganisan, “to recover, be saved”) and Old English genesan (“to escape, survive”), and in form to Sanskrit नसते (násate, “approaches, unites”); with them go the causatives Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (nasjan, “to save”) and Old High German nerian (“to save, heal, nourish”).[2][4][5] The name Νέστωρ (Néstōr) belongs to the same root.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a word of epic, and above all of the Odyssey: the “sweet return” home and the return of the Achaeans.[6][7][8] The Iliad uses it for going back to the ships, and the Odyssey also for reaching a place, as the land of the Phaeacians.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy it is the return from war and the return to one's fatherland, in Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and more generally a journey: in Sophocles Philoctetes goes on a “journey” in search of food.[6][8] The Nostoi were epic poems of the Trojan Cycle on the returns of the Greek heroes from Troy.[6][3]

A different sense, the yield of grain when ground, is reported by the grammarian Trypho, and Hesychius glosses it as the giving out of taste; from it νόστιμος (nóstimos) came to mean “nourishing” and in Modern Greek “tasty”.[6][9][4][3]

Modern Greek νόστος (nóstos) is a learned, emotional word for the return to one's homeland after a long absence, with reference to the return of Odysseus to Ithaca.[10] English nostalgia was formed from it and ἄλγος (álgos).[1]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the return home.[6][7]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the plural for the returns from war.[6][11]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for a journey in search of food.[6][11]
  • 2nd century AD – Pausanias cites the Nostoi among the epics of the Trojan Cycle.[6][11]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for homecoming.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. homecoming, the return home.[6][8]
  2. A return to a place.[6][8]
  3. A journey; arrival at a place.[6][8]
  4. (plural) Νόστοι, the returns of the heroes from Troy, as a title of epic poems.[6]
  5. The yield of grain when ground; taste.[6][9]

Word family

  • ἄνοστος (ánostos)
  • ἀπονοστέω (aponostéō)
  • νοστέω (nostéō)
  • νόστιμος (nóstimos)
  • περινοστέω (perinostéō)
  • ὑπονοστέω (huponostéō)
  • νέομαι (néomai)
  • Νέστωρ (Néstōr)
  • English nostalgia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge