ἀνθρωπολόγος

Forms

ἀνθρωπολόγος (anthrōpológos) m and f, neuter ἀνθρωπολόγον; an adjective of two endings.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human being”) + λέγω (légō, “to speak”), literally “speaking about people”.^[3][4][5]

The Modern Greek word ανθρωπολόγος (anthropológos) “anthropologist” is not a continuation of it: Triantafyllidis derives it as a learned borrowing from French anthropologue, and notes that it differs from the ancient adjective.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only ancient example is in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, where it describes someone fond of talking about other people, that is, of personal conversation.^[1][2][7] The Dutch GNW takes it in the sense of gossiping.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a rarity: GLAUx finds a single token, in Aristotle.^[7] The lexica give it only the sense “speaking about people”.^[8][9][10]

In Modern Greek ανθρωπολόγος (anthropológos) is the scholar who studies anthropology, a masculine and feminine noun formed on the French model, and the Academy's dictionary also lists the English anthropologist beside the ancient word and the French one.^[6][11]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in the Nicomachean Ethics for a person who likes to talk about people.^[1][2][7]
• Modern Greek – The learned ανθρωπολόγος (anthropológos) takes the sense “anthropologist”, after French anthropologue.^[6][11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Speaking about people; fond of personal conversation, given to gossip.^[1][2][5]

Related words

• ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos)
• λέγω (légō)

References

1. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1901), Abrégé du dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
9. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
10. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
11. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens