Etymologically
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σοφία

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /so.pʰí.aː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /soˈɸi.a/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /soˈfi.a/[1]

Forms

σοφῐ́ᾱ (sophíā) f (genitive σοφῐ́ᾱς); first declension[1] Ionic σοφίη.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek σοφός (sophós, “skilled, clever, wise”) + -ία (-íā).[1][4][5]

The adjective σοφός has no etymology: Indo-European explanations have failed, and if Σίσυφος (Sísuphos) and σάφα (sápha, “clearly”) are related, it would be a substrate word.[4][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it once, of the skill of a carpenter who “knows all his craft well”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is skill in a craft or art: the skill of the Telchines in Pindar, of Hephaestus and Athena in Plato, of Daedalus in Xenophon, and skill in music and song, poetry, driving, medicine and divination.[2][3] From this it came to mean sound judgement and practical wisdom, such as was attributed to the Seven Sages, in Theognis and Herodotus, and also cunning.[2][3] In the Classical period it became learning and wisdom: Plato's Socrates speaks of a wisdom greater than human, and Aristotle of wisdom as the excellence of an art and as speculative thought.[2][3] Euripides and Aristophanes personify it as a goddess.[3] Compounded with φίλος (phílos) it gave φιλόσοφος (philósophos) and φιλοσοφία (philosophía).[4]

In the Septuagint it is skill, human wisdom and above all the wisdom of God, which in the Wisdom of Solomon is personified as the agent of creation.[6] The New Testament sets the wisdom of this world against the wisdom of God, and Moses is said to have been taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians.[7][8]

Medieval Greek used it for knowledge and learning, and “the outer wisdom” was secular learning as opposed to that of the Church.[9] Modern Greek σοφία (sofía) means wisdom, including the popular wisdom of proverbs.[10] Churches dedicated to Holy Wisdom gave the name “Saint Sophia”, and English -sophy comes from it through Latin and French.[11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for a carpenter's skill.[2]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it for skill in poetry.[2][12]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis uses it for practical wisdom.[2][12]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the wisdom of the sages and for cunning.[2][12]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts wisdom with ignorance.[2][12]
  • 1st century AD – Paul contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Skill in a craft or art, as in carpentry, music, poetry, medicine or divination.[2][3]
  2. Sound judgement, practical wisdom; cunning.[2][3]
  3. Learning, wisdom.[2][3]
  4. (personified) Wisdom.[3]
  5. (Koine) The wisdom of God, and Wisdom as a divine agent.[6][7]

Word family

  • ἀσοφία (asophía)
  • φιλοσοφία (philosophíā)
  • θεοσοφία (theosophíā)
  • ἀσόφιστος (asóphistos)
  • σεσοφισμένως (sesophisménōs)
  • σοφίζω (sophízō)
  • σόφισμα (sóphisma)
  • σοφιστεύω (sophisteúō)
  • σοφιστής (sophistḗs)
  • σοφόω (sophóō)
  • σοφός (sophós)
  • English theosophy

Usage notes

Hesychius explains it as every art and science.[13] Byzantine etymologists derived σοφός from σέβομαι (sébomai, “to revere”), “because we all revere the wise”.[14]

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 j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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
  5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  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. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  13. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
  14. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram