σημαντικός

Forms

σημᾰντῐκός (sēmantikós) m (feminine σημᾰντῐκή, neuter σημᾰντῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “to indicate, signify”) + -ικός (-ikós), the adjective of the verb.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Aristotle (4th century BC)^[4] as a term of logic and grammar: in On Interpretation a noun is a sound that is significant by convention, without reference to time, and in the Poetics a verb is a compound significant sound that includes time.^[5][6] A Hippocratic treatise, Precepts, uses the neuter plural for significant symptoms.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides meaning “significant”, the opposite of ἄσημος (ásēmos), it was used with a genitive for what indicates something: Aristotle's Topics calls a thing indicative of health,^[5][6] Theophrastus speaks of mountains that give signs of the weather, Diodorus of signs of every kind of vice, and Galen of a symptom that points to mumps.^[5][3] Papyros quotes Origen, for whom the stars do not cause events but indicate them.^[3]

Modern Greek σημαντικός (simandikós) is a learned revival of the ancient word.^[8] Its usual modern sense, “important, considerable”, follows French significatif and English significant; a second learned use, “semantic”, with the feminine as a noun for semantics, follows French sémantique.^[8][3] That French word, applied to the study of meaning by Michel Bréal in 1883, comes through Late Latin from σημαντικός, and gave the English word semantic in 1894.^[9][8]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of significant sounds in his logical and poetic works.^[5][6][4]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus writes of mountains that give signs of the weather.^[5][4]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it with a genitive, “indicative of every vice”.^[5][4]
• 2nd century AD – Galen calls a sign indicative of mumps, and Marcus Aurelius uses the adverb.^[5][4]
• 1883 – Michel Bréal applies the French derivative sémantique to the study of meaning.^[9]
• 1894 – English first records semantic.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned σημαντικός (simandikós) means “important”, after French and English, and also “semantic”.^[8][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of words and sounds, conveying meaning, significant.^[5][6]
2. With a genitive, indicative of something, giving a sign of it.^[5][6][2]
3. Neuter plural as a noun: significant symptoms.^[5]

Related words

• σημαίνω (sēmaínō)
• σῆμα (sêma)
• ἄσημος (ásēmos)
• English semantic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com