προφητικός

Forms

προφητῐκός (prophētikós) m (feminine προφητῐκή, neuter προφητῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “prophet”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3] The Latin borrowing is prophēticus.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Philo, who speaks of a prophetic man, a prophetic word and a prophetic mind.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the New Testament the prophetic writings are the writings of the prophets, the Old Testament, and the second Letter of Peter speaks of the prophetic word.^[2][3] Lucian uses it too.^[5][2] An inscription from Didyma describes a bronze statue as “prophetic”, that is, in the official robes of a temple προφήτης (prophḗtēs), and the magical papyri tell the user to dress in a prophet's garb.^[5] Coptic borrowed the word.^[8]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it of what belongs to a prophet or was said by one, and of people with prophetic gifts.^[9] Modern Greek προφητικός (profitikós) is a learned word for what concerns prophecy; its use for a forecast that came true is a semantic loan from French prophétique.^[4]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo speaks of a prophetic man, word and mind.^[5][10]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it.^[5][2][10]
• 825 – A Fayumic Coptic text has the borrowed word, its earliest dated Coptic record.^[8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts call Moses “most prophetic”.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned word means prophetic, and of a forecast, one that came true.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Prophetic, oracular; of the prophets.^[5][2][3]
2. Dressed in the robes of a προφήτης (prophḗtēs), a temple prophet.^[5]

Related words

• προφητεία (prophēteía)
• Latin prophēticus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
4. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge