σκοπός

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sko.pós/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /skoˈpos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /skoˈpos/^[1]

Forms

σκοπός (skopós) m (genitive σκοποῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is derived from the root of σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look at, consider”), in its o-grade, from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, spy”).^[1][2][3] σκέπτομαι goes back to *σπέκ-ομαι with metathesis, and matches Latin speciō and Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati, “sees”).^[2]

Beekes notes that the old root noun “spy”, as in Sanskrit स्पश् (spáś-) and the second part of Latin haruspex, is not found in Greek and seems to have been replaced by σκοπός; the Homeric phrase “the Sun, watcher of gods and men” matches a Vedic formula calling the sun a spy.^[2][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for a lookout posted on a height, a spy sent to watch the enemy, an umpire watching a race, and a mark aimed at.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In the Odyssey an archer aims at “another mark, which no man has yet hit”, and to speak “away from the mark” is to speak wide of the point, a phrase Plato and Xenophon keep.^[5][4] Pindar calls gods and kings watchers and guardians of their lands, and Aeschylus calls Zeus the watcher on high.^[4][6] Sophocles uses it for the guard who sees an edict carried out.^[6]

From Plato on it is above all the aim or goal one fixes one's eye on: the goal by which one should live, pleasure as the right aim of all creatures.^[4][6] Polybius and Plutarch use it in that sense.^[6]

In Modern Greek σκοπός (skopós) means “aim, purpose”, a sentry, and, after Italian motivo, a tune.^[7] English scope comes from it through Latin scopus and Italian scopo.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – a lookout, a spy, and a mark to shoot at.^[5][4]
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter – the Sun as watcher of gods and men.^[4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls gods and kings guardians of their lands.^[4][6][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the aim of life.^[4][6][8]
• 1530s – English scope.^[3]
• Modern Greek – σκοπός “aim; sentry; tune”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A watcher, lookout, one posted on a height to watch.^[4][6]
2. A spy, scout.^[4][6]
3. A guardian, protector; an overseer.^[4][6]
4. A mark, target; ἀπὸ σκοποῦ, wide of the mark.^[4][6]
5. An aim, goal, purpose.^[4][6]

Word family

• ἄσκοπος (áskopos)
• σκοπιά (skopiā́)
• σκοπέω (skopéō)
• ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos)

Related words

• σκέπτομαι (sképtomai)
• English scope
• English horoscope

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge