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πόλεμος

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word πόλεμος

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Mycenaean (Linear B), in a personal name
From
Pre-Greek
Ultimate origin
Pre-Greek

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pó.le.mos/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈpo.le.mos/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈpo.le.mos/[1]

Forms

πόλεμος (pólemos) m (genitive πολέμου); second declension[1] Epic πτόλεμος.[2][3] Mycenaean Greek e-u-ru-po-to-re-mo-jo Euruptolemoio, a personal name.[2][4]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variation between initial ⟨πτ⟩ and ⟨π⟩ and its suffix -εμ-.[2][4] The same variation is found in πόλις (pólis) beside πτόλις (ptólis), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tpolh₁-i-, but Beekes holds that in πόλεμος it was adopted from Pre-Greek.[2] The word has also been linked with πελεμίζω (pelemízō, “to shake”) and more distantly with πάλλω (pállō, “to brandish”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to push, drive”).[2][1][5] Beekes finds that semantically unattractive, while the CGL and Babiniotis accept a link with that verb.[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The epic form πτόλεμος is found in the Mycenaean personal name Euruptolemos.[2][4][5] In Homer it is both battle, fighting between warriors, and war.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Homer the word is mostly a battle or the fighting itself, even a single combat, and it is given many epithets: grievous, tearful, man-destroying.[3][6] After Homer it usually meant war between cities or peoples, as opposed to peace.[3][6] Heraclitus, Pindar and Aristophanes personify War.[6] Its derivatives give the vocabulary of warfare: πολέμιος (polémios) "hostile, enemy", πολεμικός (polemikós) "of war", πολεμέω (poleméō) "to wage war" and πολέμαρχος (polémarkhos), a war-leader and later an official.[2]

The New Testament speaks of "wars and rumours of wars".[7] Coptic borrowed the word as ⲡⲟⲗⲉⲙⲟⲥ (polemos), first in a manuscript of about AD 500.[8] The word continued through medieval Greek into Modern Greek πόλεμος (pólemos), armed conflict between states or peoples.[9][10]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean period – The epic form appears in the Mycenaean personal name Euruptolemos.[2][4]
  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for battle and for war.[3][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus and Pindar personify War.[6][11]
  • 1st century AD – The Gospels speak of wars and rumours of wars.[7]
  • About AD 500 – The Coptic borrowing first appears in a dated manuscript.[8]
  • Modern Greek – It is the ordinary word for war.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (chiefly Homer) Battle, fight, fighting.[3][6]
  2. War between cities or nations, as opposed to peace.[3][6][7]
  3. (personified) War.[6]

Word family

  • πολέμιος (polémios)
  • πολεμικός (polemikós)
  • πολεμέω (poleméō)
  • πολεμιστής (polemistḗs)
  • πολέμαρχος (polémarkhos)
  • φιλοπτόλεμος (philoptólemos)
  • English polemic

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Πόλεμος.” Etymologically, 29 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CF%80%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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