συμβεβηκός

Forms

σῠμβεβηκός (sumbebēkós) n (genitive σῠμβεβηκότος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of the perfect active participle from Ancient Greek συμβαίνω (sumbaínō, “to come together; to happen; to follow”), used as a noun: literally “that which has happened, that which has fallen together”.^[1][2][3] The verb is formed from Ancient Greek σύν (sún) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go, step”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the classical period the substantivised participle meant a chance event or contingency, in Plato, Xenophon and the orator Isaeus.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle made it a technical term of his philosophy: the συμβεβηκός of a thing is a contingent attribute or property, one the thing happens to have without its being part of what the thing is.^[4] The everyday sense of a chance occurrence or circumstance continued, for example in Polybius.^[4][5]

Byzantine lexicography kept the philosophical definitions: the lexicon ascribed to Zonaras defines it as what can come and go without the destruction of its subject, and as what is in something not as a part of it yet cannot exist without it, as whiteness is in a body.^[6] Modern Greek keeps it as a learned philosophical term, συμβεβηκός (simvevikós), “the incidental, what happens by chance”.^[2]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato, Xenophon and Isaeus use the substantivised participle for a chance event.^[4][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a contingent attribute of a thing, as opposed to its essence.^[4][7]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius still uses it of chance events.^[4][7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned term of philosophy, συμβεβηκός (simvevikós).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chance event, a contingency; a circumstance, an occurrence.^[4][5]
2. (philosophy) A contingent attribute or property, an accident: something that belongs to a thing without being part of its essence.^[4][5][6]

Related words

• συμβαίνω (sumbaínō)
• βαίνω (baínō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
3. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
6. ^ a b Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge