πατήρ

Forms

πᾰτήρ (patḗr) m (genitive πᾰτρός or πᾰτέρος); third declension^[1] Mycenaean pa-te, on a tablet from Pylos (An 607).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *patḗr, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”), the inherited word for the father as head of the family, kept in most Indo-European languages.^[1][3]

Cognate with Sanskrit पितृ (pitṛ́), Latin pater, Old English fæder, Old Armenian հայր (hayr) and Phrygian πατερης (paterēs).^[1][3][4] Derivatives match too: πάτριος (pátrios) agrees with patrius, and πάτρως (pátrōs, “father's brother”) may match patruus.^[3][4] The address to Zeus as father is an inherited formula, matching Iuppiter.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is on a Mycenaean tablet from Pylos as Mycenaean Greek pa-te.^[2][3] In the Iliad it is first used of Chryses, to whom his daughter must be given back.^[6][7] Homer also calls Zeus the father of gods and men, uses the vocative as a respectful address to an older man, and the plural for forefathers.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine stresses its social value: πατήρ is the father as the head of the family and a link in the line of generations, so πατέρες means “ancestors”.^[5] Herodotus calls a king the father of his people and uses the word of the mother city of colonists.^[9] Plato calls Parmenides “father” as a teacher, names the creator god father of the world, and, playing on τόκος (tókos, “offspring; interest”), calls the principal of a loan its father.^[9] The word also forms names such as Πάτροκλος and Κλεοπάτρα.^[10]

In the New Testament it is God the Father, of humans and of Jesus Christ.^[9][11] Medieval Greek used it for the Father of the Trinity and for spiritual guides.^[12] The new form Byzantine Greek πατέρας (patéras) is found in texts of the 12th century.^[12] In Modern Greek πατέρας (patéras) is the everyday word; Modern Greek πατήρ (patír) is learned, used as a title of priests and monks and for the first person of the Trinity.^[13][10]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Mycenaean Greek pa-te on a tablet from Pylos.^[2][3]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a father, for Zeus, and in the plural for ancestors.^[6][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it figuratively of a king and of the mother city of colonists.^[9][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato calls the creator god “father”.^[9][14]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of God the Father.^[9][11]
• 12th century – The vernacular form Byzantine Greek πατέρας (patéras) is first recorded.^[12]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek πατέρας (patéras) is the everyday word; Modern Greek πατήρ (patír) is a learned title.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A father; πατρὸς πατήρ, a grandfather.^[9][7]
2. (figurative) A father of a people, a respected teacher; in the vocative, a respectful address to an older man.^[9][8]
3. An epithet of Zeus, father of gods and men.^[9][8]
4. (New Testament) God the Father.^[9][11]
5. (plural) Forefathers, ancestors.^[9][8]
6. (figurative) Author, originator; the creator god.^[9]
7. (figurative) The principal of a loan.^[9]

Word family

• πάτρα (pátrā)
• πατριά (patriā́)
• πάτριος (pátrios)
• πατρίς (patrís)
• πατρικός (patrikós)
• πατρόθεν (patróthen)
• εὐπατρίδης (eupatrídēs)
• πάτρως (pátrōs)
• πατρῷος (patrōîos)
• ἀπάτωρ (apátōr)
• πατροφόνος (patrophónos)
• πατρυιός (patruiós)

Related words

• μήτηρ (mḗtēr)
• Latin pater
• English father

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge