σωφροσύνη

Forms

σωφροσῠ́νη (sōphrosúnē) f (genitive σωφροσῠ́νης); first declension^[1] Epic and later poetic σαοφροσύνη, Doric σωφροσύνα.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek σώφρων (sṓphrōn, “of sound mind”) + -σύνη (-súnē), the abstract noun of the adjective.^[1][3] Homer has the older form σαοφροσύνη (saophrosúnē), from σαόφρων (saóphrōn).^[4][2] The adjective is a compound of σῶς (sôs, “safe, sound”), epic σάος (sáos), with φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”), so that it first meant “with a sound mind”.^[5][6] Beekes derives all the forms of the adjective σῶς (sôs) from an older σάϝος (sáwos), probably a thematized form of Proto-Indo-European *tweh₂-u-s.^[5][7]

Ancient writers explained the word in their own way: Aristotle said that it “preserves” (σῴζω (sṓizō)) “prudence” (φρόνησις (phrónēsis)), and the Etymologicum Magnum adds that it guards the body from filth or means “thinking sound thoughts”.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses the epic form in the Odyssey for good sense and discretion; in the plural it describes the prudence with which Telemachus kept his father's plans hidden (σαοφροσύνῃσι νοήματα πατρὸς ἔκευθεν, “in his good sense he concealed his father's purposes”).^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The common form first appears in Theognis.^[2][10] In classical Attic the word covered a range from simple sanity, the opposite of madness, to good sense and above all the self-control that masters the appetites; in Plato's Symposium it is defined as mastery over pleasures and desires.^[2] It could also mean decent behaviour and, of women, chastity, and Thucydides once uses it in a political sense, of a moderate form of government.^[3][2] It became one of the four cardinal virtues of the philosophers, and the Stoics identified it especially with prudence.^[11][6]

Spicq calls the whole family of words practically untranslatable: it expresses spiritual health, right reasoning and an inner balance.^[6] In the New Testament Paul, accused by Festus of madness, answers that he speaks words of truth and good sense (Acts 26:25), and the First Letter to Timothy uses it of women's self-control.^[6][2]

Modern Greek has it as a learned word, Modern Greek σωφροσύνη (sofrosýni).^[12] English borrowed it as sophrosyne in 1889.^[13]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses the epic form for good sense and discretion.^[4][2]
• 6th century BC – Theognis has the common form σωφροσύνη.^[2][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of a moderate form of government.^[2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Symposium defines it as mastery over pleasures and desires, and Xenophon sets it against madness.^[2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle explains the name as “preserving prudence”.^[8]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles uses it for Paul's sane and sober words.^[11][6]
• 1889 – English borrows it as sophrosyne.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Soundness of mind, sanity, as opposed to madness.^[2][3]
2. Good sense, prudence, discretion.^[2][3]
3. Self-control, moderation in the desires, temperance; one of the cardinal virtues.^[2][3][11]
4. Decent behaviour; of women, chastity.^[3][2]
5. (politics) A moderate form of government.^[2]

Related words

• σώφρων (sṓphrōn)
• σωφρονέω (sōphronéō)
• σῶς (sôs)
• φρήν (phrḗn)
• English sophrosyne

Usage notes

The grammarian Ammonius distinguishes it from παρθενία (parthenía, “virginity”): a virgin is always chaste, but a chaste woman is not always a virgin.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b c d e Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
9. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)