Etymologically
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τύπος

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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)

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