στρατήγημα

Forms

στρᾰτήγημᾰ (stratḗgēma) n (genitive στρᾰτηγήμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek στρατηγέω (stratēgéō, “to be a general”) + -μα (-ma), with the suffix of nouns for the result of an action.^[1][2][3] The verb comes from στρατηγός (stratēgós, “general”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the prose of Xenophon and Isocrates, for an act of generalship or a stratagem.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant anything a commander did, and especially a clever piece of generalship.^[5][8][6] Polybius and later historians used it for a ruse of war meant to deceive the enemy,^[5][6][9] and collections of such ruses were published under the title Strategemata by Polyaenus and, in Latin, by Frontinus.^[5] It then spread to any trick or device: Plutarch uses it outside war, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus speaks of tricks of speech.^[5] The Septuagint has it once, in 2 Maccabees.^[10] The ancient lexica explain it as a clever device, the command of an army, or a success.^[11][12]

Latin borrowed it as stratēgēma,^[13][14] which reached English as stratagem through Italian and French.^[14] In Modern Greek στρατήγημα (stratígima) is a learned word, taken over from the ancient one, for a ruse in war and, figuratively, any cunning device.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Isocrates use it for an act of generalship.^[5][6][17]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a ruse of war.^[5][6][17]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for a trick outside war.^[5][17]
• Late 15th century – English takes stratagem from French, ultimately from this word through Latin and Italian.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. An act of generalship, a clever military move.^[5][6]
2. A stratagem or ruse of war.^[5][6][10]
3. Any trick or device; with “of words”, a trick of speech.^[5]

Related words

• στρατηγός (stratēgós)
• στρατηγέω (stratēgéō)
• στρατηγικός (stratēgikós)
• Latin stratēgēma
• English stratagem

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
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 f g 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. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
9. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
10. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
12. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
13. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
16. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
17. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge