πρᾶγμα

Forms

πρᾶγμᾰ (prâgma) n (genitive πρᾱ́γμᾰτος); third declension^[1] Ionic πρῆχμα (prêkhma) (from *-κσμ-, in inscriptions of Chios and Ephesus) and πρῆγμα (prêgma) (Herodotus).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πράσσω (prā́ssō) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result: “what has been done”.^[1][2][4] Babiniotis starts from a form with ⟨κμ⟩, the ⟨κ⟩ being voiced before ⟨μ⟩.^[5] All forms of the verb go back to a stem ending in a velar, an enlargement of the zero grade of a root.^[2][6] Frisk connected this with the root of πέρνημι (pérnēmi, “to sell”), but Beekes and Chantraine prefer the root of πείρω (peírō, “to pierce”) and πέρα (pérā, “beyond”), since the oldest sense of the verb is “to pass through, travel”.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is post-Homeric: its earliest records are in Theognis, in the 6th century BC, with the sense “deed, act”, and in Pindar.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word moved early from the deed to the matter in general: in Pindar and Aeschylus it is an occurrence or affair, in Herodotus and Thucydides the plural πράγματα are circumstances and affairs, often those of the state.^[3][4][8] Demosthenes sets πράγματα against words, Plato and Andocides set the thing against its name, and Aristotle uses it for the fact itself.^[3][4] In a bad sense the plural is “trouble”, as in Herodotus' phrase for causing someone trouble.^[8][9] It could be said of a person: μέγα πρᾶγμα, “a person of consequence”, in Herodotus, Demosthenes and Menander, and, with contempt, of a sophist, of the people or of a woman.^[4][3]

The Septuagint uses it for things, business and affairs of state, and the New Testament for events, deeds, undertakings and a lawsuit.^[10][9] In late Greek the g was assimilated: πράμα (práma) is found in a papyrus of the 6th century AD.^[11][12] Modern Greek has both the popular πράμα (práma) and the learned πράγμα (prágma) “thing, matter”.^[12][11] English pragmatic comes, through Latin, from the derivative πραγματικός (prāgmatikós).^[13]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it for a deed.^[3][7][14]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for an occurrence or affair.^[3][4][14]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus writes it πρῆγμα and uses the plural for affairs and for trouble.^{[2][3][8][14]}
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts the thing with its name in the Cratylus.^[3][14]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the fact, as opposed to the word.^[3][14]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for events, deeds and a lawsuit.^[9]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus has the form πράμα (práma).^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A deed, act, that which is done; deeds as opposed to words.^[3][4]
2. An occurrence, matter, affair; a battle or action.^[3][4]
3. (plural) Circumstances, affairs, business; affairs of state; in a bad sense, trouble.^[4][3][8]
4. A thing, a concrete reality, as opposed to its name; a fact.^[3][4]
5. A thing of importance; of a person, μέγα πρᾶγμα, a person of consequence.^[3][4]
6. (contemptuous) A thing, creature, of a person or group.^[3][4]
7. (New Testament) An undertaking, task; a lawsuit.^[9]

Word family

• πραγματεία (prāgmateíā)
• πραγματεύομαι (pragmateúomai)
• πραγματικός (prāgmatikós)
• πραγμάτιον (pragmátion)
• πραγματοκοπέω (pragmatokopéō)
• πραγματοποιία (pragmatopoiía)
• πραγματώδης (pragmatṓdēs)
• ἀπράγμων (aprā́gmōn)

Usage notes

Pindar and the tragedians often use πρᾶγος (prâgos) instead, which Beekes calls a poetic replacement for the worn-out πρᾶγμα.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 h i j k l m n o p 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 i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge