παιδίον

Forms

παιδῐ́ον (paidíon) n (genitive παιδῐ́ου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive from Ancient Greek παῖς (paîs, “child”) + -ιον (-ion, “diminutive suffix”).^[1][2][3] Beekes explains the base noun, disyllabic πάϊς (páïs) in poetry, from *παϝιδ- (*pawid-), an extension of the stem seen in Attic παῦς (paûs); it belongs to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u- (“few, little”), with παῦρος (paûros, “few”), Latin parvus (“small”) and paucus (“few”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Herodotus, of an infant, and in Aristophanes.^[3][5] The tragedians never use it.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a young child of either sex, according to a Hippocratic text quoted by Philo up to seven years old,^[3] and ἐκ παιδίου is “from childhood”.^[3][6][2] Like παῖς, it was used in Attic for a young slave, in Aristophanes and in inscriptions.^[3][2] A proverb called a son who took after his father “his father's little child”.^[3]

In the New Testament it is the newborn Jesus and the children brought to him, and also a familiar address, used by the risen Christ to his disciples.^[6] In medieval vernacular texts it appears as παιδίν, παιδί and other forms, for a son or daughter, a young person or a servant.^[7] Its diminutive sense faded, and Modern Greek παιδί (paidí), from medieval παιδίν, is the ordinary word for “child”.^[8][7]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of an infant.^[3][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a child and for a young slave.^[3][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of newborn children with it.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of the infant Jesus and as an address to the disciples.^[6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts have παιδίν (paidín) and παιδί (paidí) for “son or daughter”.^[7]
• Modern Greek – παιδί (paidí) is the ordinary word for “child”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little or young child, an infant, boy or girl.^[3][2][6]
2. A young slave, male or female.^[3][2]
3. (New Testament) A familiar address to grown followers: “children”.^[6]
4. (medicine, doubtful) A disease of children, perhaps convulsions.^[3]

Related words

• παῖς (paîs)
• παιδίσκη (paidískē)

Usage notes

The proverb τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ παιδίον, “the father's little child”, was used of a son like his father, and was the title of a satire by Varro.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki