ἀμνησία

Forms

ἀμνησία (amnēsía) f (genitive ἀμνησίᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed as if from an adjective “forgetful”, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) + μιμνήσκω (mimnḗskō) + -ία (-íā) “to remind”.^[1][2] Babiniotis derives it from the privative ἀ- and the stem of μνήμη (mnḗmē) “memory”.^[3] Etymonline traces that stem to the root Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).^[4]

The usual Greek word was ἀμνηστία (amnēstíā), but it had taken the special sense of forgetting past wrongs, an amnesty.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Septuagint translation of Sirach (2nd century BC), in the phrase ἀμνησία κακῶν “forgetting of ills”.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The Wisdom of Solomon also uses it for forgetfulness, as a synonym of λήθη (lḗthē).^[6][7] A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus uses it for a decree of amnesty.^[6][5] LSJ dates it to the 3rd century AD,^[6] but the DGE dates it to the 3rd century BC.^[5] The word is rare in the ancient texts.^[7]

Modern Latin took it up as a medical term, and English amnesia has meant “loss of memory” since 1786.^[4] Modern Greek αμνησία (amnisía) is a learned word, reintroduced with its medical sense under the influence of French amnésie.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint translation of Sirach uses it for forgetting one's troubles.^[5][7]
• 1st century BC – The Wisdom of Solomon uses it for forgetfulness.^[6][7]
• 3rd century AD – A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus uses it for a decree of amnesty.^[6]
• 1670s – The word appears in English as a Greek word.^[4]
• 1786 – English amnesia is recorded for loss of memory.^[4]
• Modern Greek – αμνησία (amnisía) is a learned medical term.^[8][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Forgetfulness, a synonym of λήθη (lḗthē).^[6][5]
2. A decree of amnesty.^[6][5]

Related words

• ἀμνηστία (amnēstíā)
• μιμνήσκω (mimnḗskō)
• μνήμη (mnḗmē)
• English amnesia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki