Etymologically
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σκάνδαλον

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /skán.da.lon/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈskan.da.lon/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈskan.da.lon/[1]

Forms

σκᾰ́νδᾰλον (skándalon) n (genitive σκᾰνδᾰ́λου); second declension[1]

Etymology

Beekes thinks it was originally a technical term, perhaps a piece of wood hanging on ropes, used both as the trigger of a trap and as an acrobat's bar: its derivative σκανδαλιστής (skandalistḗs) meant an acrobat.[2][3] It is often connected with Latin scandō (“to climb”) and Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “jumps”), from *skend- (“to jump”), as “wood for jumping”.[1][2] Beekes finds this arbitrary in meaning and the /a/ unexplained, and thinks it Pre-Greek or a loan from another Indo-European language.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded uses are in the Septuagint (Leviticus 19:14, Joshua 23:13) and in a 3rd-century BC Zenon papyrus.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for a trap or snare and, figuratively, for an enticement to sin and a cause of offence, a Semitic usage.[2][5] Etymonline notes that it renders a Hebrew word for “noose, snare”.[2][5][6] The verb σκανδαλίζω (skandalízō) meant to tempt or to give offence.[2]

Late Latin borrowed it as scandalum, whence French scandale and English scandal (1580s), and, through Old French esclandre, English slander.[6] Medieval Greek has σκάνδαλο and σκάνταλον.[7]

Timeline

  • 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it.[4]
  • 3rd century BC – A Zenon papyrus has the genitive plural.[2]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for a stumbling block.[5][6]
  • Late 13th century – English slander comes from it through Latin and French.[6]
  • 1580s – English borrows scandal through French.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A trap, snare.[2][5]
  2. (figurative) An enticement to sin, temptation.[5]
  3. A cause of offence, a stumbling block, a scandal.[5][6]

Word family

  • σκανδάληθρον (skandálēthron)
  • σκανδαλίζω (skandalízō)
  • Latin scandalum
  • English scandal
  • English slander

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  5. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr