τύπος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tý.pos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈty.pos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈty.pos/^[1]

Forms

τῠ́πος (túpos) m (genitive τῠ́που); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is derived from τύπτω (túptō, “to strike, beat”).^[2][1][3] The verb is built on the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- (“to push, beat”), as in Latin stupeō (“to be stunned”) and Albanian shtyp (“to crush”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded uses are in Theognis (6th century BC) and Aeschylus.^[4][5] An oracle in Herodotus uses it for the blow of a smith's hammer.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the blow it came to mean the mark the blow leaves: the impression of a seal ring, a footprint, the marks of the nails in John's Gospel, and figuratively the imprint of learning on the soul in Plato.^[6][7] Then it was the shape made by moulding or carving: a figure, a relief, a statue, an idol.^[6][8] It also meant a shape or outline, the general character of a thing, a type, and a pattern, example or model.^[6][1][8]

Latin borrowed it as typus.^[9][1] Modern Greek τύπος “type” is a learned word, partly a semantic loan from French type;^[10] τύπος “the press” is a semantic loan from French presse.^[10]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus quotes an oracle that uses it for a hammer blow, and uses it for carved figures.^[6][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for an impression on the soul.^[6][5]
• 1st century AD – John's Gospel uses it for the marks of the nails.^[7][6]
• Modern Greek – τύπος means a type and the press.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blow.^[6][1]
2. The mark of a blow or of pressure; an impression, imprint.^[6][7]
3. A figure made by moulding or carving; a relief, statue; an idol.^[6][8]
4. A shape, outline.^[6]
5. The general character of a thing, a type.^[1]
6. A pattern, model, example.^[1][8]

Word family

• τύπανον (túpanon)
• τυπόω (tupóō)
• τύπωμα (túpōma)
• τυπικός (tupikós)

Related words

• Latin typus
• English type

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki