τακτική

Forms

τακτῐκή (taktikḗ) f (genitive τακτῐκῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine, used as a noun with τέχνη (tékhnē) “art” understood, from Ancient Greek τακτικός (taktikós) “fit for arranging, especially in war”.^[2][3][4] The adjective is formed from τάσσω (tássō) “to arrange, draw up” with the suffix -τικός (-tikós),^[1] or, in Babiniotis's analysis, from the verbal adjective τακτός (taktós) with -ικός (-ikós).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dvoretsky cites the noun in Plato, in the sense of the art of drawing up troops.^[6] Xenophon uses the neuter plural τὰ τακτικά for tactics and calls a skilled commander τακτικὸς ἀνήρ.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In the classical period the adjective described what belongs to the drawing up of troops: Xenophon's tactician, his “regular” battalions, and Plato's tactical manoeuvres.^[2][7] The feminine noun, “the art of tactics”, is used by the comic poet Nicomachus,^[2] and Hellenistic and Roman writers produced treatises with “Tactics” in the title:^[7][5] Plutarch uses the neuter plural for such a work, and Babiniotis mentions a lost treatise On Tactics by Posidonius.^[7][5] The adjective also took the general sense “regulating” (Marcus Aurelius) and, in grammar, “ordinal” of numbers (Dionysius Thrax).^[2]

Modern Latin tactica took the word into the western languages: English tactics dates from the 1620s.^[8] Modern Greek τακτική (taktikí) is a learned word, partly a return of the ancient term and partly a rendering of French tactique.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of the art of drawing up troops.^[6][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses the neuter plural for tactics and calls a commander “tactical”.^[2][7][11]
• 3rd century BC – Nicomachus the comic poet uses ἡ τακτική for the art of tactics.^[2][11]
• 2nd–1st century BC – Dionysius Thrax uses the adjective of ordinal numbers.^[2][11]
• 1620s – English borrows it through Modern Latin as tactics.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned τακτική (taktikí) continues the ancient term and renders French tactique.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art of drawing up troops; military tactics.^[2][7][12]

Related words

• τακτικός (taktikós)
• τάσσω (tássō)
• τάξις (táxis)
• English tactics

Usage notes

The neuter plural τακτικά (taktiká) has the same sense in Xenophon and served as the title of treatises.^[2][7]

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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli