ἀναίσθητος

Forms

ἀναίσθητος (anaísthētos) m or f (neuter ἀναίσθητον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-) + αἰσθητός (aisthētós, “perceptible”), with the privative prefix.^[1][2] The verbal adjective αἰσθητός (aisthētós) belongs to αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai, “to perceive”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 5th century BC.^[4][5] Thucydides uses it of a death that is not felt, and of stupidity; the Hippocratic treatise On Ancient Medicine compares the senseless matter of leather and wood with the human body.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used both actively and passively.^[5] Actively it means “without sensation”: Plato says the head is insensitive, and Aristotle uses it of skin.^[5][2] From this came “unaware of”, with a genitive, and, as a term of abuse, “dull, stupid”: Thucydides calls an audience obtuse, Demosthenes the Thebans, and Polybius a Roman thought the most witless of his day.^[5][2] Isocrates asks who could be so unfeeling as not to be pained by slander.^[3][2] Passively it meant “imperceptible”, as in Plato's Timaeus and in Aristotle, of a time too short to perceive.^[5] The Epistle to Diognetus calls the images of pagan gods things without feeling.^[6]

Modern Greek αναίσθητος (anésthitos) means “unconscious”, of an injured person or a numbed limb, and figuratively “unfeeling”, a sense Triantafyllidis traces to French insensible.^[7] The English anesthetic, first recorded in 1846, was formed from it.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of an unfelt death and, as a noun, of stupidity; the Hippocratic writings and Thrasymachus use it of what feels nothing.^[5][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of the insensitive head and of what the senses cannot perceive.^[5]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes calls the Thebans obtuse.^[5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a dull-witted Roman.^[5]
• 1846 – The English word anesthetic is first recorded.^[8]
• Modern Greek – αναίσθητος (anésthitos) means unconscious and unfeeling.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking sensation or perception, insensitive; of the dead, insensible.^[2][5]
2. Not sensitive to pleasure or pain; unfeeling.^[2]
3. Unaware (of something), with a genitive.^[5][2]
4. Dull, obtuse, stupid.^[2][5]
5. (passive) Imperceptible to the senses.^[5]

Word family

• ἀναισθητέω (anaisthētéō)

Related words

• ἀναισθησία (anaisthēsíā)
• αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai)
• English anesthetic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b 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
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