παραβολή

Forms

παραβολή (parabolḗ) f (genitive παραβολῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun in -η from Ancient Greek παραβάλλω (parabállō, “to throw beside, set side by side”),^[1][2][3] from παρά (pará, “beside”) and βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[4] The literal sense is “a throwing beside”, hence “juxtaposition”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato uses it in the Philebus for the juxtaposition or comparison of two lives, and Isocrates for an illustrative comparison.^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 4th century BC it was comparison and illustration: Aristotle's Rhetoric treats the comparison drawn from real life, such as Socrates used, as a kind of argument distinct from the fable.^[5][3] Plato's Timaeus uses it in astronomy for the conjunction of stars.^[5][3] Polybius used it of ships fighting broadside to broadside, and Plutarch of the oblique turning of a path.^[5][3] In geometry it meant the “application” of an area to a line, and Apollonius of Perga, about 210 BC, named the curve from it.^[5][4]

The Septuagint used it regularly to render one Hebrew word: a proverb, a byword, a figurative poem, and a taunt.^[7][5] In the New Testament it is the parable, the short comparative story characteristic of Jesus' teaching, and also a proverb and, in Hebrews, a type or figure.^[3][2][5]

Latin borrowed it as parabole and parabola, which gave English parable through Old French, and, as a mathematical term in Modern Latin, English parabola.^[8][4] Modern Greek παραβολή (paravolí) is learned: “comparison”, “parable” (from the Hellenistic sense) and the mathematical “parabola”.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Philebus uses it for the comparison of two lives, and his Timaeus for the conjunction of stars.^[5][3][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates uses it for an illustrative comparison.^[5][3][10]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle treats the comparison as a kind of argument.^[5][3][10]
• About 210 BC – Apollonius of Perga names the curve parabola after it.^[4]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for ships fighting broadside to broadside.^[5][10]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it for Jesus' parables.^[5][2][3]
• Late 13th century – English borrows parable through Old French and Latin.^[4]
• Modern Greek – παραβολή (paravolí) is a learned word for comparison, parable and parabola.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Placing side by side, juxtaposition, comparison.^[5][3]
2. Comparison used to explain, illustration, analogy; in rhetoric, an example drawn from real life.^[5][3]
3. (New Testament) A parable; a type or figure.^[5][3][2]
4. (Septuagint, New Testament) A proverb, a byword.^[5][7]
5. Moving side by side; of ships, a broadside position.^[5][3]
6. Sideways direction, an oblique turning of a path.^[5][3]
7. (astronomy) Conjunction of stars.^[5][3]
8. (mathematics) Division; quotient; in geometry, the application of an area to a line.^[5]

Related words

• παραβάλλω (parabállō)
• παρά (pará)
• βάλλω (bállō)
• Latin parabola
• English parable
• English parabola

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge