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οὐσία

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word οὐσία

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
5th century BC, Herodotus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /uː.sí.aː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /uˈsi.a/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /uˈsi.a/[1]

Forms

οὐσῐ́ᾱ (ousíā) f (genitive οὐσῐ́ᾱς); first declension[1] Ionic οὐσίη, Doric ὠσία and ἐσσία, the latter made on the Doric and Aeolic participle ἔσσα (Plato, Cratylus).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is an abstract noun in -ία (-ía) from οὖσα (oûsa), the feminine of the participle ὤν (ṓn, “being”), from Ancient Greek εἰμί (eimí, “to be”), formed like γερουσία (gerousía) from γέρων (gérōn).[2][3][1] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), the participle to *h₁s-ont-.[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Herodotus, Sophocles and Euripides it means what is one's own: one's property or substance.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Attic, especially in the orators, it was the usual word for a person's property.[7][6] “Visible” property was real estate, “invisible” property movable goods.[7][6] A speaker in Lysias says that he would be a man of substance if he had property.[6] In Hellenistic and Roman Egypt it also named large estates.[6]

In philosophy, Plato uses it for stable being, immutable reality, opposed to becoming;[6][7] Aristotle uses it for essence, that which makes a thing what it is, opposed to its attributes, and for a being considered as form, opposed to matter.[7] In the New Testament it occurs in Luke, of a son's share of the family property.[8]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept both senses, property and the real nature of things.[9] In Modern Greek ουσία (ousía) is above all a material substance, a sense taken from French substance, as well as the essence of a matter and, in speech, the full flavour of a dish.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – Herodotus, Sophocles and Euripides use it for property.[6][7][12]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Attic orators distinguish visible from invisible property.[7][6]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for stable being, opposed to becoming.[6][7][12]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for essence and substance.[7][12]
  • 1st century AD – Luke's Gospel uses it for a son's share of the family property.[8]
  • Modern Greek – ουσία (ousía) also means a material substance, after French substance.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. What is one's own: property, substance, means.[6][7][8]
  2. (Attic orators) φανερὰ οὐσία real estate, and ἀφανὴς οὐσία movable property.[7][6]
  3. (Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt) A large estate.[6]
  4. (philosophy) Being, reality, existence; stable being opposed to becoming.[6][7]
  5. (philosophy) Essence, what makes a thing what it is; substance, opposed to attributes.[7][6]

Word family

  • ἀπουσία (apousíā)
  • παρουσία (parousíā)
  • μετουσία (metousía)
  • περιουσία (periousíā)
  • εἰμί (eimí)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  5. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
  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 d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b c 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
  9. ^ 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
  11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
Cite this entry

“Οὐσία.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BF%E1%BD%90%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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