παράδεισος

Forms

πᾰρᾰ́δεισος (parádeisos) m (genitive πᾰρᾰδείσου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an Iranian loanword,^[2][3] borrowed from Proto-Iranian *paridayjah,^[1] matching Avestan pairi-daēza- (“enclosure”) and Middle Persian *pardēz, which survives in Persian as a word for “garden”.^[2][4][5][6] The Iranian word means a walled-round space: its second part, Iranian *daiźa-, is cognate with Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos, “wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to form, build”),^[2][7] and its first part with περί (perí, “around”).^[7] Frisk notes that the Iranian compound corresponds exactly to a Greek compound *περίτοιχος (*perítoikhos).^[4] The same Iranian word gave Biblical Hebrew פַּרְדֵּס (pardēs).^[8][9][10]

Ancient grammarians did not see the loan: Herodian derived it from δεῖσα (deîsa, “moisture”), to explain its spelling with ⟨ει⟩.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Xenophon introduced it, always of the walled parks of the Persian kings and nobles, planted with trees and stocked with game.^{[4][3][12][13]}

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic papyri and inscriptions it became an ordinary word for a garden or orchard.^[2][14] The Septuagint chose it for the garden God planted in Eden, and through that use it came to mean the place of the blessed.^[9][5] In the New Testament it is the transcendent abode of the righteous, as in Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians.^[10][3][15] Comic poets also called a dull, insensible person a παράδεισος, as Photius and Hesychius report.^[16][17][14]

It passed into Latin as paradīsus, from which the European languages took it;^[4][18] the English word paradise comes through Old French paradis.^[7] Coptic took it too, from about AD 200.^[19] Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a densely planted place: a meadow, grove or orchard.^[20] Modern Greek παράδεισος (parádisos) keeps the biblical sense; its use for any delightful place follows French paradis.^[5]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for the hunting parks of Persian kings and satraps.^[3][13][21]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the garden of Eden.^[9][10]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – Egyptian papyri and the Rosetta decree use it for an ordinary garden or orchard.^[14]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the abode of the blessed.^[10][3]
• About AD 200 – Coptic borrows it.^[19]
• Modern Greek – παράδεισος (parádisos) means the paradise of the Bible and, after French, any place of delight.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A walled park stocked with game, belonging to Persian kings and nobles.^[3][2]
2. (Koine) A garden, orchard.^[2][14][9]
3. (Septuagint) The garden of Eden.^[9][10]
4. (New Testament) Paradise, the abode of God and of the redeemed.^[3][10]
5. (comedy) A dull, insensible person.^[14][16]

Related words

• τεῖχος (teîkhos)
• Latin paradīsus
• English paradise

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. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c d e f 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
11. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
12. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
14. ^ a b c d e Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
15. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
16. ^ a b Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
17. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
18. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
19. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
20. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
21. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge