ἀγωγός

Forms

ᾰ̓γωγός (agōgós) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓γωγόν); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”), formed with a reduplicated stem, a reduplication of the kind called “Attic”.^[1][2][3] Beekes groups it with ἀγωγή (agōgḗ, “carrying away”) as a reduplicated noun whose formation is unclear.^[4] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the 5th century BC.^[6][7] Herodotus uses it as a noun for guides,^[6][8][9] and Euripides as an adjective for what draws something forth: libations that summon the dead, and a thing that draws tears.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Thucydides uses it for an escort and says that a country could not easily be crossed without a guide.^[6][9] Plato calls certain studies “leading towards” truth and the contemplation of being,^[6][8][9] and Plutarch speaks of a power of leading men.^[6][8] In medicine it is used of what draws forth menstruation, and Dioscorides uses it of the attracting power of the magnet;^[6][9] in Plutarch it means attractive or appealing.^[6][8]

In the Roman period it became a word for a water channel or aqueduct, first in the phrase “conduit of water” in inscriptions, then on its own, as in Justinian's Novels and the Geoponica.^[6][9] A 6th-century papyrus uses it as a legal term for property that can be moved or is available.^[9]

The word lived on in medieval Greek.^[10] Modern Greek αγωγός (agogós) is a learned word for a pipe or conduit and, in physics, for a conductor, a sense taken from French conducteur.^[11][2]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a guide, and Euripides for libations that summon the dead.^[6][8][9]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for an escort.^[6][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of studies that lead towards truth.^[6][8]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it of the magnet's attracting power.^[6][9]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for “attractive”.^[6][8]
• 2nd century AD – An inscription from Arabia speaks of a conduit of water.^[9]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus uses it as a legal term for available property.^[9]
• Modern Greek – αγωγός (agogós) means a pipe and, in physics, a conductor.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Leading, guiding; leading towards something.^[6][8][9]
2. Drawing forth, eliciting: tears, the dead, (medicine) menstruation.^[6][8][9]
3. Drawing, attracting, of the magnet; attractive, appealing.^[6][9][8]
4. (law, papyri) Available, movable, of property.^[9]

Noun

1. A guide, an escort.^[6][8][9]
2. A water channel, an aqueduct.^[6][9]

Word family

• ἀνάγωγος (anágōgos)
• ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arkhisunágōgos)
• δημαγωγός (dēmagōgós)
• ἐπαγωγός (epagōgós)
• εὐάγωγος (euágōgos)
• ἱππαγωγός (hippagōgós)
• μυσταγωγός (mustagōgós)
• παιδαγωγός (paidagōgós)
• προαγωγός (proagōgós)

Related words

• ἀγωγαῖος (agōgaîos)
• ἀγωγεῖον (agōgeîon)
• ἀγωγεύς (agōgeús)
• ἀγωγή (agōgḗ)
• ἀγωγικά (agōgiká)
• ἀγώγιμος (agṓgimos)
• ἀγώγιον (agṓgion)
• ἀγωγόν (agōgón)
• παραγωγή (paragōgḗ)
• προσαγωγή (prosagōgḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
4. ^ 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki