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ἀγαπάω

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἀγαπάω

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
700s BC Homer, Odyssey

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /a.ɡa.pá.ɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /a.ɣaˈpa.o/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /a.ɣaˈpa.o/[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓γᾰπᾰ́ω (agapáō) [1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3] Homer's usual present is ἀγαπάζω (agapázō), and Chantraine thinks the explanation must start from both forms; he finds a link with the intensive prefix ἀγα- (aga-) unsatisfactory, since it fits neither the sense nor the /p/.[2] Pinault nevertheless explains it as a compound “to protect greatly”, Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵh₂-peh₂-, comparing similar Sanskrit expressions.[4][1]

A Semitic origin, from the root of Biblical Hebrew אָהַב (ʾāháḇ, “to love”), was proposed by Szemerényi and Levin, but Rosół rejects it.[5][1] The Hebrew word for love may, however, have influenced the Christian use of the verb.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it twice, both in the Odyssey: once meaning to greet or caress with affection, once to be content.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Homer's sense is a gesture of welcome and caressing, towards a guest or a cherished son; in tragedy it is used only of showing affection to the dead.[5][7][2] In Plato, Isocrates and the orators it becomes close to φιλέω (philéō), but more expressive: to love or cherish people, and to prize things such as money, honours or knowledge.[2][8][7] With a participle or infinitive it means “to be content”, a sense found from the Odyssey and frequent in Attic.[2][8]

The Septuagint uses it of the love of God for people and of people for God, and the New Testament makes it the verb of Christian love of God and of one's neighbour.[7][9][2] From the verb came ἀγάπη (agápē), the Christian word for charity.[2] Coptic borrowed the verb.[10] It survives as Modern Greek αγαπώ (agapó), its sense of love between lovers is learned, after French aimer.[11][12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Odyssey uses it for welcoming with affection and for being content.[6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the passive, “to be held dear”.[7][8]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of fathers loving their sons and poets their poems.[7]
  • 2nd century BC – The Rosetta inscription speaks of one loved by Ptah.[7]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of loving God and one's neighbour.[9][8]
  • About AD 900 – A Sahidic Coptic text has the borrowed verb.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To greet or treat with affection; in tragedy, to show affection to the dead.[7][8]
  2. To love, hold dear or cherish a person.[7][8]
  3. To value or prize things, possessions or practices.[8][7]
  4. To be glad; to enjoy something.[8]
  5. To be content, with a participle, infinitive or clause.[8][6]
  6. To tolerate; to prefer.[8]
  7. (Septuagint, New Testament) To love God; of God, to love people.[7][9]

Word family

  • ἀγάπη (agápē)
  • ἀγαπητός (agapētós)
  • ἀγαπάζω (agapázō)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  3. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
  6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
  11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  12. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
Cite this entry

“Ἀγαπάω.” Etymologically, 29 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%80%CE%B3%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%AC%CF%89. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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