ψῆφος

Forms

ψῆφος (psêphos) f (genitive ψήφου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unclear.^[2] Like many words in ψ-, it is close in meaning to ψάω (psáō, “to rub, crumble”), but what the ⟨φ⟩ would represent is not clear.^[2][3][1] A zero grade ⟨ψαφ-⟩ has also been assumed in ψάμμος (psámmos, “sand”) and in Latin sabulum (“sand”).^[2][3] Babiniotis also connects it with the word for sand and takes the stem as a Greek innovation.^[4] Hittite paššila- (“pebble”) matches it in meaning, but Beekes notes that the comparison makes no sense formally.^[3][2] Doric has ψᾶφος (psâphos).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pindar, in the Doric form, meaning a worn pebble: he says he could not tell the number of the pebbles of the sea.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Pebbles were used for counting and for voting, and the word followed both uses: a counter on a reckoning board, and so calculation and accounts, and the voting pebble cast by a juror or citizen, and so a vote and a decision or decree.^[5][6] Later voting tokens were bronze discs, hollow or solid, which kept the old name.^[6] Herodotus uses the word of pebbles, Aeschylus and the orators of votes.^[6][5] In late Greek it also meant a precious stone in a ring.^[5] In the New Testament, Acts has the vote cast against the condemned.^[7]

Modern Greek ψήφος (psífos), “vote”, is a learned word from the ancient one, and English psephology (1952) is built on the derived verb ψηφίζω (psēphízō).^[8][9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of pebbles on the shore.^[5][6][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the vote.^[6][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of pebbles and of counters for reckoning.^[6][10]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of calculations and accounts.^[6][10]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles speak of casting a vote against the accused.^[7]
• 1952 – English forms psephology from the derived verb.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small worn stone, a pebble.^[5][6]
2. A counter used in reckoning or in a game; reckoning, calculation, accounts.^[5][6]
3. A voting pebble, a ballot; a vote; a decision or decree.^[5][6][7]
4. (late) A precious stone, especially in a ring.^[5]

Word family

• ὁμόψηφος (homópsēphos)
• ψήφινος (psḗphinos)
• ψηφίς (psēphís)

Related words

• ἰσοψηφία (isopsēphíā)
• ψηφίζω (psēphízō)
• ψηφίον (psēphíon)
• ψήφισμα (psḗphisma)
• ψηφολογεῖον (psēphologeîon)
• ψηφοφορία (psēphophoríā)
• ψηφοφόρος (psēphophóros)
• ψάμμος (psámmos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge