πάσχα

Forms

πάσχα (páskha) n (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

borrowed from Aramaic פַּסְחָא (pasḥā), the emphatic form of the Aramaic word, which corresponds to Biblical Hebrew פֶּסַח (pésaḥ), the Passover.^[2][1][3][4] It is an indeclinable neuter.^[5][6]

In Christian Greek the name was probably influenced by the Greek verb πάσχω (páskhō), “to suffer”, as if the feast were named after the Passion; this is a reinterpretation, not the origin.^[7] Philo explained the Hebrew name as διάβασις (diábasis), “crossing over”, and Zonaras repeats this gloss.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are in the Septuagint's Pentateuch (3rd century BC), in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, for the Passover festival and the lamb sacrificed at it.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Septuagint and the New Testament the word has three related senses: the festival of the Passover, the Passover meal (“to prepare the Passover”), and the lamb killed and eaten at it, and Paul calls Christ “our Passover” who has been sacrificed.^{[5][3][10][4]} In later Christian usage it became the name of Easter.^[3][1]

The Christian word spread with the Church: to Latin (pascha), to Gothic (𐍀𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌰 (paska), in Wulfila's Gospel of John), Coptic (from about AD 200), Old Armenian and the Slavonic languages.^[1][11][12] Medieval Greek also had the forms Πάσκα and Φάσκα and a genitive Πασχάτου,^[13] and Modern Greek Πάσχα (Páscha) is the name of Easter.^[14] English took the derivative paschal from Late Latin paschalis in the early 15th century.^[15]

Timeline

• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint's Exodus and Leviticus use it for the Passover feast and the Passover lamb.^[9][5]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it of the festival, the Passover meal and the lamb, and Paul of Christ as the sacrificed lamb.^[3][5]
• 3rd century AD – Christian writers such as Hippolytus use it as the name of Easter.^[3][16]
• About AD 200 – Coptic texts first show the borrowed word.^[12]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for both the Jewish and the Christian feast, also as Πάσκα and Φάσκα.^[13]
• Early 15th century – English paschal is recorded, from Late Latin.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Passover, the Jewish feast commemorating the exodus from Egypt.^[5][3][6]
2. The Passover meal.^[5][3][6]
3. The Passover lamb; figuratively, of Christ.^[5][3][6]
4. (Christianity) Easter.^[3][1]

Related words

• Latin pascha
• English paschal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
4. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
11. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
13. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
14. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge