τροφή

Forms

τροφή (trophḗ) f (genitive τροφῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an action noun from Ancient Greek τρέφω (tréphō, “to nourish, rear”), with the suffix -η (-ē).^[1] The noun has the o-grade of the verb's root, as in the pair στρέφω (stréphō) and στροφή (strophḗ).^[2][3]

Ancient writers explained the word in their own way: Philoxenus, quoted in the Etymologicum Magnum, took it from the verb in the sense “to thicken”, as food makes bodies sturdy, and Plutarch connected it with τηρέω (tēréō, “to watch over”), because food guards and preserves nature.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest texts are Pindar and Aeschylus.^[6] Pindar uses it of the rearing of horses, and Aeschylus of the nurture of children, often in the plural, as in “while still in the nursery”.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In classical prose the main sense is food or nourishment: Herodotus and Thucydides use it of daily food, and Thucydides also of the provisions that keep an army in the field.^[7][8] From the idea of what keeps one alive came “way of life” in Sophocles and Plato, and Sophocles calls Philoctetes' bow his means of sustenance.^[7][8] The other branch, “upbringing”, covers the care parents give children and children owe their parents in old age, and, with Plato and Aristotle, education.^[8][7] Poets also use it for what is reared: Sophocles' Oedipus Rex opens by calling the Thebans the new brood of Cadmus.^[7][8]

In the New Testament it is ordinary food, as in the Gospel of Matthew's account of John the Baptist.^[9][7] It is still in use as Modern Greek τροφή (trofí) “food”; its figurative sense of food for the mind is a learned semantic calque on French nourriture.^[10]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of the rearing of horses, and Aeschylus of the nurture of children.^[7][6][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for food and for an army's provisions, and Sophocles for a way of life.^[7][8][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato pairs it with παιδεία (paideíā) for upbringing and education.^[7][11]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus uses it of a place where ibises were reared.^[7]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Matthew uses it for the food of John the Baptist.^[7][9]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as τροφή (trofí), with a learned figurative sense on the model of French.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Nourishment, food; of an army, provisions, forage.^[7][8]
2. A meal.^[7]
3. A means of sustenance; a way of life, livelihood.^[7][8]
4. Nurture, upbringing; the maintenance of parents by their children.^[7][8]
5. Education.^[7]
6. The rearing or keeping of animals.^[7]
7. (poetic) What is reared: a brood, a new generation; young animals.^[7][8]
8. (papyri) A place where animals are reared.^[7]

Word family

• ἀνατροφή (anatrophḗ)
• διατροφή (diatrophḗ)
• ἀτροφία (atrophíā)
• ἐκτροφή (ektrophḗ)
• τροφεῖον (tropheîon)
• τροφικός (trophikós)

Related words

• τρέφω (tréphō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge