στόχος

Forms

στόχος (stókhos) m (genitive στόχου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain: there are no certain cognates outside Greek.^[2][3] Since the first meaning seems to have been “erected pillar, post”, in Beekes's tentative view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ- (“bar, pillar”),^[2][1] comparing Russian стог (stog, “haystack”), Bulgarian стежер (stežer, “post for tying horses”), Lithuanian stãgaras (“long thin stalk”) and Latvian stę̄ga (“long bar”), and among Germanic words Old High German stanga (“pole”), Old Norse stǫng (“stick, pole”) and Old English stingan (“to sting”).^[2][3] Beekes rejects Frisk's comparison with Old English staca (“stake”), which he assigns to another root.^[2] Frisk suggests that στάχυς (stákhus, “ear of grain”) may be the zero grade of the same root.^[3]

Wiktionary explains the sense “target” from archers who practised by shooting at pillars.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 5th century BC, in Aeschylus, in the sense “guess, conjecture”, which Chantraine thinks may have been formed back from στοχάζομαι (stokházomai).^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word in Ancient Greek, with partly corrupt manuscript readings.^[2][6] Attic inscriptions use it of a pillar of brick, Euripides of the act of aiming, and Xenophon of a target for archers and javelin throwers.^[7][4][6] Pollux equates it with στοῖχος (stoîkhos) in the sense of a stake.^[6] Its family grew through the common verb στοχάζομαι (stokházomai) “to aim at, guess”, and the compounds ἄστοχος (ástokhos) “missing the mark” and εὔστοχος (eústokhos) “hitting the mark”.^[6]

Modern Greek στόχος (stóchos) is a learned revival and means a target and, figuratively, a goal.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a guess.^[7][4][10]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of aiming.^[7][4][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of a target.^[7][4][10]
• Modern Greek – It is revived as a learned word for a target or aim.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pillar of brick.^[7][6]
2. A target for archers and javelin throwers.^[7][4]
3. The act of aiming.^[7][4]
4. A guess, conjecture.^[7][4]

Word family

• εὔστοχος (eústokhos)
• στοχάζομαι (stokházomai)
• στοχαστικός (stokhastikós)
• ἄστοχος (ástokhos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge