φυσική

Forms

φῠσῐκή (phusikḗ) ^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of the adjective φυσικός (phusikós) “natural, of nature”, used as a noun with a word for “science” or “study” understood, as in Aristotle's full phrase “the natural ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē)” (science).^[2][3][4] The adjective is from φύσις (phúsis) “nature”, the noun of φύω (phúō) “to grow, bring forth”.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle (4th century BC) is the first to use ἡ φυσική for the study of nature, and in the Metaphysics he sets it beside mathematics and theology as one of the theoretical sciences.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

For Aristotle φυσική was the science of things that exist by nature and can move, which he placed second after “first philosophy”.^[2][7] Later philosophers divided philosophy into three parts, the physical, the ethical and the logical, and the term kept this broad meaning of natural philosophy throughout antiquity.^[2]

Latin borrowed it as physica “the study of nature”, from which came Old French fisike and English physic (natural science, then medicine); English physics goes back rather to the neuter plural ta physika, the title of Aristotle's treatise on nature.^[5] The narrower modern sense, the science of matter and energy, dates from the 18th century in English.^[5] In Greek, the scholars of the Enlightenment wrote handbooks of φυσική in this new sense, such as Darvaris' Epitome of Physics (Vienna, 1812).^[7] Modern Greek φυσική (fysikí) “physics” is the ancient word with the sense of French physique.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses ἡ φυσική for the science of nature.^[2][9]
• Early 14th century – English physic is recorded for natural science, through Latin and French.^[5]
• 1580s – English physics is first recorded.^[5]
• 1812 – Darvaris publishes a Greek handbook of physics in Vienna.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Physics, the study of nature; natural philosophy.^[2][10][11]

Related words

• φυσικός (phusikós)
• φύσις (phúsis)
• Latin physica
• English physics
• English physic

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d Κάτοπτρον: Ιστορικό λεξικό επιστημονικών όρων (Greek scientific terms 1700–1821)
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli