Etymologically
Log in

ἀριθμός

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /a.ritʰ.mós/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /a.riθˈmos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /a.riθˈmos/[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓ρῐθμός (arithmós) m (genitive ᾰ̓ρῐθμοῦ); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ri-dʰh₁-mó-s, from *h₂rey- (“to count, arrange”).[1][2] It is formed with the suffix -θμος (-thmos) from the root seen in νήριτος (nḗritos, “countless”).[2][3] Ionic has the metathesised ἀμιθρός (amithrós).[2][3]

Outside Greek there are comparable words in Germanic, Old Norse rím (“account”) and Old High German rīm (“row, number”), and in Celtic, Old Irish rím (“number”), and probably Latin rītus (“rite”).[2][1] Frisk thought the outside connections uncertain.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded use is in the Odyssey (4.451), for a count.[4][5] The verb ἀριθμέω (arithméō) “to count” is already in the Iliad.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is counting and numbering (Pindar, Herodotus, Euripides, Thucydides), the sum or total number of persons and things (the Odyssey, Hesiod, Semonides, Herodotus, tragedy), and a company of men (the Odyssey, Herodotus, the New Testament).[6][4] It also meant an amount of material or money, an item in a list, and rank or account.[1] Euripides and Callimachus use it for regard or reckoning.[6]

Plato, Archytas and Aristotle made ἀριθμητικός (arithmētikós) the technical term for arithmetic.[3] Modern Greek αριθμός is a learned word.[7] English logarithm was coined in Modern Latin by John Napier in the 1610s from λόγος and ἀριθμός.[8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Odyssey uses it for a count.[4][5]
  • 7th century BC – Semonides uses it for number.[4][9]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a total number.[4][6][9]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses ἀριθμητικός for arithmetic.[3][9]
  • 1610s – Napier coins logarithmus.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Number, amount, total.[4][6]
  2. Counting, numbering.[6]
  3. A company, body of persons.[6]
  4. Rank, account; regard.[1][6]
  5. An item in a series or list.[1]

Word family

  • ἀριθμητικός (arithmētikós)
  • ἀριθμέω (arithméō)
  • English arithmetic
  • English logarithm

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge