πρακτικός

Forms

πρᾱκτῐκός (prāktikós) m (feminine πρᾱκτῐκή, neuter πρᾱκτῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πράσσω (prā́ssō, “to do”) + -τικός (-tikós), built on the stem of the verb.^[1][2] Babiniotis explains the adjective's stem as reanalysed from forms such as πρακτός (praktós) and πράκτωρ (práktōr).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Aristophanes' Knights, where a character asks whether anything is more effective than wine.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Xenophon and Plato use it of people who are active and practical, fit for action.^[3][4] Plato's Statesman sets practical against theoretical knowledge, and Aristotle made the pair πρακτικός and θεωρητικός (theōrētikós) a fixed opposition: he speaks of the practical life, practical reason and the principles of action.^[3][4][2] He also calls the iambic trimeter the metre of action.^[3]

In Hellenistic Greek the word came to mean “effective”, as in Polybius, and Dioscorides calls a root drastic.^[3][5] Galen uses it of the motor nerves, and in the magical papyri the neuter means a spell or rite.^[3]

Late Latin borrowed it as practicus.^[1][5] Modern Greek πρακτικός (praktikós) is a learned word, influenced by French pratique.^[5]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Aristophanes uses the comparative of wine as “more effective”.^[3][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Plato use it of practical, active people, and Plato sets practical against theoretical knowledge.^[3][4][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle speaks of the practical life and of practical reason as opposed to theoretical.^[3][4][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it in the sense “effective”.^[3][6]
• 2nd century AD – Galen calls the motor nerves “practical”.^[3][6]
• Modern Greek – πρακτικός (praktikós) means “practical”, partly after French.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fit for or concerned with action; of people, active, practical.^[3][4]
2. Of knowledge or thought, practical as opposed to theoretical (theōrētikós); of principles, concerning conduct.^[3][4]
3. Representative of action, of a metre or of songs.^[3][4]
4. Effective, efficient; of remedies, drastic.^[3][4]
5. Able to bring something about, with the genitive.^[3]
6. Vigorous, strong.^[3]

Noun

1. (neuter, magical papyri) A spell or magical rite.^[3]

Word family

• ἀντιπρακτικός (antiprāktikós)
• ἐμπρακτικός (emprāktikós)
• συμπρακτικός (sumprāktikós)

Related words

• πρᾶξις (prâxis)
• Latin practicus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge