ἀναλυτικός

Forms

ἀνᾰλῠτῐκός (analutikós) m (feminine ἀνᾰλῠτῐκή, neuter ἀνᾰλῠτῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis, “analysis, resolution”) + -ικός (-ikós),^[1] from the verb ἀναλύω (analū́ō, “to undo, resolve”), itself ἀνα- (ana-, “up, back”) with λύω (lū́ō, “to loosen”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Aristotle, of the analytical science in the Rhetoric and, as a neuter plural noun, of the principles of analysis, which also gave the title of his Analytics.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle's analytics went from what is complex to its simple principles, and the word kept that technical sense in logic and mathematics: Pappus uses it of geometrical analysis, and the late commentators use the feminine as a noun for the analytical method.^[3][4] In a looser sense it meant "dissolving": Damascius has it of separation, and the veterinary writers of a softening poultice for stiff joints.^[3][6] In a magical papyrus a divine name is "freeing" from a spell.^[4][7][6]

It passed into Latin as analyticus, and French analytique came from the Latin as a learned word.^[1] Modern Greek αναλυτικός (analytikós) is the ancient word in learned use, with its newer senses after French analytique.^[8]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of analytical science and names his Analytics after it.^[3][4]
• 2nd century AD – Arrian's Epictetus speaks of an analytical syllogism.^[3][4]
• 3rd century AD – Pappus uses it of mathematical analysis.^[3][4]
• 5th century AD – The commentator Ammonius uses the feminine for the analytical method, which goes from the compound to the simple.^[4][3]
• 5th–6th century AD – Damascius uses it in the sense “dissolving”.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (logic, mathematics) Analytical, proceeding from the complex to its principles.^[3][4][5]
2. (noun, neuter plural) The principles of analysis, and (feminine) the analytical method.^[3][4]
3. Dissolvent, dissolving.^[3][6]
4. (magic) Freeing from a spell.^[4][7]

Related words

• ἀνάλυσις (análusis)
• ἀναλύω (analū́ō)
• Latin analyticus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
7. ^ a b Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki