ἀποστάτης

Forms

ᾰ̓ποστᾰ́της (apostátēs) m (genitive ᾰ̓ποστᾰ́του); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi) + -της (-tēs), an agent noun from the stem of the verb meaning “to stand away from, revolt”.^[1][2][3] Compare ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs), formed in the same way.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Babiniotis finds it already in the 5th century BC, in a fragment of Ctesias.^[2][4] The texts of the GLAUx corpus have it first in the Septuagint and Polybius, where it means a rebel or deserter from a king.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic Greek it was a political and military word: a rebel against a king, a mutineer, a seceder named in a Delphic decree, and papyri of the 2nd century BC call Egyptian insurgents by it.^[7][6][4] Plutarch used it of runaway slaves and even of runaway dogs.^[6][7]

The Septuagint used it for those who turn from God, and the Lust lexicon notes it as a possible new formation there.^[8] In Christian writers it became frequent for the apostate, said of the fallen angel and the devil, and Latin borrowed it as apostata, which the Theodosian Code uses for an apostate from Christianity.^[4][6][1] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for a rebel and for the devil, with a form influenced by Italian.^[9] Modern Greek αποστάτης (apostátis) is a learned form of the Hellenistic word, used of a defector from a party or other body.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Ctesias uses it, by Babiniotis' account.^[2][4]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it of those who turn against God, in Numbers and Joshua.^[8][5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for rebels against a king, and papyri call Egyptian insurgents by it.^[6][4][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of runaway slaves and runaway dogs.^[6][4]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Irenaeus calls the fallen angel an apostate.^[4]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a rebel and for the devil as the serpent.^[9]
• 20th century – Modern Greek uses it for a defector from a party or group.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rebel or deserter, especially against a king; a mutineer in an army; a seceder.^[6][7][4]
2. A runaway slave; of a dog, a runaway.^[6][7]
3. (Septuagint, Christianity) One who turns away from God or the law, an apostate; said of the fallen angel and the devil.^[8][3][4][1]

Related words

• ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi)
• Latin apostata

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki