στάσις

Forms

στᾰ́σῐς (stásis) f (genitive στᾰ́σεως or στᾰ́σῐος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *státis,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis, an old verbal noun of the root Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), the root of ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand”).^[2][1] The Greek form continues the zero grade *sth₂-ti-.^[2]

Cognate with Latin statiō (“standing place”) and its frozen accusative statim (“on the spot”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (staþs, “place”) and Old High German stat (“place”).^[2][1] The full grade *steh₂-ti- gives Avestan stāiti- (“standing, position”) and Russian стать (statʹ, “build of the body”).^[2] Old English stede, the source of the English word stead, also belongs here.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records are in the lyric poets: Alcaeus has it of the strife of the winds, or of their quarter, and Theognis of political faction and civil discord.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Like ἵστημι (hístēmi), from “to make stand” it meant “setting up, placing” (of nets and ladders, of a statue), and, as “to weigh”, the placing of something on the scales.^[4][3] From “to stand” it meant a standing or posture, the place where one stands, a station, the position of a wind or of the seasons, and, in Plato and Aristotle, “rest” as opposed to motion.^[4][3] Figuratively it was the state or condition of a person, the stand taken by a philosopher, and the “position” over which two orators contend.^[4][3]

The political sense, “party, faction”, which led to “sedition, civil strife”, is as old as the lyric poets and is common in Herodotus and Thucydides.^[4][3] In the New Testament it means a riot or uprising, and in one passage the continued existence of something.^[5]

It survives as Modern Greek στάση (stási): “stop, halt” and the stop of a bus or train, a sense modelled on English stoppage, and, as a learned word, “mutiny, uprising”.^[6] In medicine, Latin took it up as stasis, a stoppage of the circulation, which passed into English in 1745.^[7]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it of the winds.^[3][5][8]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it for a faction and for civil strife.^[4][9][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a station or position and for party strife.^[4][3][8]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for civil strife.^[4][8]
• 4th century BC – Plato uses it for rest as opposed to motion.^[4][3][8]
• New Testament – In the New Testament it means a riot or uprising.^[5]
• 1745 – English takes stasis from medical Latin, for a stoppage of the circulation.^[7]
• Modern Greek – στάση (stási) means a halt, a bus stop, and a mutiny.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Setting up, placing: of nets, traps, ladders, statues.^[3][4]
2. Placing on the scales, weighing.^[3][4]
3. Standing; a way of standing, posture.^[3][4]
4. The place where someone stands: position, post, station; the quarter of a wind.^[3][4]
5. State, condition; the position or standpoint of a philosopher.^[3][4]
6. Standing still, rest, as opposed to motion.^[3][4]
7. Faction, party; a band or company.^[3][4]
8. Sedition, civil strife, discord; in the New Testament, a riot or uprising.^[3][4][5]

Word family

• ἀνάστασις (anástasis)
• ἀντικατάστασις (antikatástasis)
• ἀντίστασις (antístasis)
• ἀποκατάστασις (apokatástasis)
• ἀπόστασις (apóstasis)
• διανάστασις (dianástasis)
• διάστασις (diástasis)
• ἔκστασις (ékstasis)
• ἔνστασις (énstasis)
• ἐξανάστασις (exanástasis)
• ἐπανάστασις (epanástasis)
• ἐπίστασις (epístasis)
• ἱππόστασις (hippóstasis)
• κατάστασις (katástasis)

Related words

• στάσιμος (stásimos)
• στατικός (statikós)
• ἵστημι (hístēmi)
• Latin statiō
• English stasis

References

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