φιλάνθρωπος

Forms

φῐλάνθρωπος (philánthrōpos) m or f, φιλάνθρωπον n; second declension.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a compound, from Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “loving, dear”) + ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human being”), meaning "loving human beings".^[3][4] Debrunner treats it among the many Greek compounds whose first member is φιλο- (philo-).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first certain use is in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, where Prometheus is to be taught to give up his "man-loving" ways.^[1][6][2]

Semantic evolution

In classical prose the word moved from "loving mankind" to the everyday sense "humane, kind, courteous": Isocrates and Xenophon pair it with being a friend of the city or of the people.^[1] Xenophon also uses it of dogs and horses that are gentle and attached to people, and of farming as a humanizing occupation.^[1] Plato and Plutarch call gods φιλάνθρωπος, "loving men".^[1][2] Aristotle uses it in the Poetics of situations that appeal to human feeling, and Plutarch of a generous wine.^[1] In Hellenistic inscriptions and papyri τὰ φιλάνθρωπα were concessions, grants and privileges.^[1]

Hellenistic Jewish and Christian writers apply it to God's benevolence towards humanity.^[2] It was borrowed into Sahidic Coptic, attested from about AD 600.^[7] The word continues in Modern Greek as φιλάνθρωπος (filánthropos) "charitable, helping those in need", a learned form; its derivative φιλανθρωπικός was taken in 1832 from French philanthropique, itself made from Greek.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus applies it to Prometheus, the friend of mankind.^[1][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates and Xenophon use it of kind, humane people, and Plato of the gods.^[1][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Poetics uses it of a plot that appeals to human feeling.^[1]
• 3rd century BC – Inscriptions and papyri use τὰ φιλάνθρωπα for humane treatment and for grants and privileges.^[1]
• About AD 600 – The earliest Coptic manuscript has the borrowed word.^[7]
• 1832 – Modern Greek coins φιλανθρωπικός (filanthropikós) after French philanthropique.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Loving mankind, humane, benevolent; in a weaker sense, kind, courteous.^[1][2]
2. Of gods, loving men.^[1][2]
3. Of animals, gentle, attached to people.^[1]
4. Of things, humane, humanizing; of a wine, generous.^[1]
5. Appealing to human feeling (of a situation in a tragedy).^[1]
6. (medicine) Of a diet, generous; of a medical treatise, popular.^[1]

Noun

1. τὸ φιλάνθρωπον: humanity, kindness (the same as φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpíā)).^[1]
2. τὰ φιλάνθρωπα: humane treatment, kindnesses; concessions, grants, privileges.^[1]

Word family

• φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpíā)

Related words

• φίλος (phílos)
• ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos)

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ Debrunner, Albert (1917), Griechische Wortbildungslehre, Heidelberg: Winter; Greek tr. on the Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press