χθές

Forms

χθές (khthés) ^[1] Also ἐχθές (ekhthés), from Aristophanes on.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰyés (“yesterday”),^[1][2][4] an old adverb of time.^[2] Its initial ⟨χθ⟩ is the same as in χθών (khthṓn, “earth”).^[2] Following Puhvel, Beekes derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *dʰoǵʰ-o- (“day”) with a comparative suffix, so that it first meant “the other day, compared with now”.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit ह्यस् (hyás), Latin herī and hesternus (“of yesterday”), Albanian dje, Old Norse í gær, Old High German gestaron and Old Irish indé.^[2]

In the variant ἐχθές (ekhthés), the ⟨ἐ-⟩ may be the same deictic particle as in ἐκεῖνος (ekeînos, “that one”).^[2][5] Ancient grammarians derived χθές from ἐκτός (ektós, “outside”) or from a verb meaning “to run out”, as of time that has passed.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Homeric Hymn to Hermes, of the 6th century BC, is the earliest text in the GLAUx corpus to have it, meaning yesterday.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

From Herodotus, Sophocles and Thucydides on it is the ordinary word for yesterday, and Plato uses it as an adjective, “yesterday's”.^[3][7] Isocrates already has ἐχθές.^[7] Both forms were used in Koine; the New Testament mostly has ἐχθές, and BDAG calls χθές the real Attic form.^[8] Homer has the derived adjective χθιζός (khthizós), “of yesterday”.^[2]

The word lives on as Modern Greek χθες (chthes).^[5]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Hermes uses it for yesterday.^[2][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus, Sophocles and Thucydides use it.^[3][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it as an adjective, “yesterday's”, and Isocrates has the form ἐχθές.^[3][7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament mostly has ἐχθές.^[8]
• Modern Greek – χθες (chthes) continues it.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Yesterday.^[3][2][8]
2. (used as an adjective, with the article) Of yesterday, yesterday's.^[3]

Related words

• χθιζός (khthizós)
• Latin herī

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d e f Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ 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