συνεργός

Forms

σῠνεργός (sunergós) m or f (neuter σῠνεργόν); second declension^[1]

Etymology

A compound of σύν (sún, “with, together”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”), with the adjective ending -ος (-os).^[1][2] The second element is found in other compounds, such as εὐεργός (euergós) and ἐνεργός (energós).^[3][2] The noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pindar uses it with a genitive of the thing worked on: Aeacus is a “fellow worker” in building the wall of Troy.^[5][6] In Euripides and Thucydides it is used as a noun, a helper or accomplice, usually with the dative of the person helped.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek the word meant anyone who helped bring something about, a person or a thing: Euripides speaks of helpers in unjust deeds, and Thucydides uses it in a bad sense, of accomplices.^[5][8] Heraclitus spoke of “fellow workers” in what happens in the world, and Galen distinguished it from a joint cause (συναίτιον (sunaítion)).^[5] Demosthenes used it of a colleague in the same trade, and LSJ cites the grammarian Ammonius for the note that in this sense some accented it σύνεργος.^[5]

In the Septuagint it describes help given to a cause, and Paul calls the people who spread the gospel with him his fellow workers; in 1 Corinthians he calls himself and Apollos “God's fellow workers”.^[9][10][11] Medieval and Modern Greek kept the word as a learned term: in Modern Greek συνεργός (synergós) is above all the legal term for an accomplice in a crime, and in a wider sense a collaborator or helper.^[12][3]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of Aeacus, who helped to build the wall of Troy.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Euripides and Thucydides use it as a noun, a helper or an accomplice.^[5][6]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of a colleague in the same work.^[5][6]
• 1st century AD – Paul's letters call his companions in spreading the gospel his fellow workers.^[10][11]
• Modern Greek – The learned word survives, above all as a legal term for an accomplice.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Cooperating, working together, helping in a task.^[5][8]
2. Contributing to something, with the genitive of the thing: helping to make or bring it about.^[5]
3. (astrology) Working in cooperation, of the influence of planets.^[5]

Noun

1. A helper, fellow worker.^[5][8][10]
2. In a bad sense, an accomplice.^[5][8]
3. A colleague, someone in the same trade.^[5]

Word family

• συνεργάζομαι (sunergázomai)
• συνεργάτης (sunergátēs)
• συνεργάτις (sunergátis)
• συνεργέω (sunergéō)
• συνέργημα (sunérgēma)
• συνεργία (sunergíā)
• σύνεργον (súnergon)

Related words

• ἔργον (érgon)
• ἐργάτης (ergátēs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki