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ἀδιάφορος

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἀδιάφορος

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
300s BC Aristotle More words from the 4th century BC
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek διαφέρω

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /a.di.á.pʰo.ros/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /a.ðiˈa.ɸo.ros/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /a.ðiˈa.fo.ros/[1]

Forms

ἀδῐάφορος (adiáphoros) m or f (neuter ἀδῐάφορον); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not”) + διάφορος (diáphoros, “different”), “not different”.[1][2][3] The adjective for “different” is from Ancient Greek διαφέρω (diaphérō, “to differ”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle uses it of things that are not different from each other, and in logic of individual things that have no further differentia.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was “not different, alike”: Aristotle uses it of like things, Epicurus of what cannot be told apart, and an ancient report on Democritus of atoms without inner difference.[4][6][2] In logic, Aristotle calls the lowest species and individual things ἀδιάφορα, because nothing further divides them.[4][6]

The Stoics made it a technical term of ethics: Zeno and Chrysippus called the things that are neither good nor bad “indifferent”, and Epictetus and Sextus Empiricus discuss them.[4][2][6] From there it came to be said of people: “making no distinction”, and by Basil's time “unconcerned, careless”; a Christian sense “dissolute” is also recorded.[4][2][6] Grammarians used it for a syllable that may be long or short, mathematicians for a negligible quantity, and papyri for a loan free of interest.[4][6]

Modern Greek has the learned αδιάφορος (adiáforos) for a person who shows no interest and for what does not matter.[7][2] English took adiaphorous from it in the 1630s, for what is morally neither right nor wrong.[8]

Timeline

  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of things that are not different, and in logic of individuals.[4][6][5]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Zeno of Citium calls things neither good nor bad “indifferent”.[4][6]
  • 3rd century BC – Chrysippus divides things into good, bad and the indifferent ones between them, and Aristarchus of Samos uses it for “not perceptibly different”.[2][4][6]
  • 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses the adverb for “without discrimination”.[4][6]
  • 2nd century AD – Hephaestion uses it in metre for a syllable that may be long or short.[4][3][6]
  • 4th century AD – Basil of Caesarea uses it of people who do not care.[2][6]
  • 1630s – English borrows it as adiaphorous.[8]
  • Modern Greek – The learned αδιάφορος (adiáforos) means “indifferent, uninterested”.[7][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not different, indistinguishable, alike.[4][6]
  2. (logic) (neuter plural as a noun) Individual things or lowest species, which have no further differentia.[4][6]
  3. Undiscriminating.[4]
  4. (Stoic philosophy) Indifferent: neither good nor bad; τὰ ἀδιάφορα, morally indifferent things.[4][3][6]
  5. (metre) Common, either long or short (of a syllable).[4][3][6]
  6. Of persons: making no distinction; unconcerned, indifferent.[4][6][2]
  7. (Christian) Dissolute, dissipated.[6]
  8. Unimportant, accessory, and (mathematics) negligible.[4][6]
  9. Steadfast, unwearying.[4]
  10. (papyri) Free of interest charges.[6]

Word family

  • ἀδιαφορία (adiaphoría)
  • ἀδιαφορέω (adiaphoréō)
  • διάφορος (diáphoros)
  • English adiaphorous
  • English adiaphoron

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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  3. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Ἀδιάφορος.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%80%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%AC%CF%86%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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