ἀρσενικός

Forms

ἀρσενῐκός (arsenikós) m (feminine ἀρσενῐκή, neuter ἀρσενῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἄρσην (ársēn, “male”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3] The Attic form, with ⟨ρρ⟩, is ἀρρενικός (arrhenikós), from ἄρρην (árrhēn).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first found in Callimachus' epigrams, where a “male” fire is a passion for a boy.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

In the Hellenistic period it became the ordinary word for the male sex: the Septuagint uses it about sixty times, as in the law of circumcision in Genesis, and papyri of the 1st century AD use it of a male child.^[6][4][5] Grammarians used it for the masculine gender, opposed to θηλυκός (thēlukós), and Marcus Aurelius for manly qualities; in the magical papyri “male” frankincense is the pure kind.^[4][5] Coptic borrowed it as ⲁⲣⲥⲉⲛⲓⲕⲟⲥ (arsenikos), recorded in Sahidic from about 350.^[7]

Medieval vernacular Greek has it in several forms, among them ασερνικός (asernikós), for male people and animals.^[8] In Modern Greek αρσενικός (arsenikós) means male of people, animals and plants, the male part of a connector (perhaps a medieval sense) and, as a learned use of the Hellenistic sense, the masculine gender.^[9]

Timeline

• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it of a passion for a boy.^[2][4][5]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it often of males, beginning with Genesis.^[6][10][3]
• 2nd–1st century BC – Dionysius Thrax uses it of the masculine grammatical gender.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – Papyri from Oxyrhynchus use it of a male child.^[4][5]
• 2nd century AD – Marcus Aurelius uses it of manly qualities.^[4][5]
• 4th century AD – Coptic texts in Sahidic have the borrowing ⲁⲣⲥⲉⲛⲓⲕⲟⲥ (arsenikos) from about 350.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it, also as ασερνικός (asernikós), of male people and animals.^[8]
• Modern Greek – αρσενικός (arsenikós) means male, and is also used of a male connector and of the masculine gender.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Male, of the male sex.^[4][2][5]
2. Of or caused by a man; virile, manly.^[4][5]
3. (grammar) Of the masculine gender.^[4][5]
4. (botany) Of frankincense: “male”, that is, pure.^[5][4]

Related words

• ἄρσην (ársēn)
• ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón)
• θηλυκός (thēlukós)

Usage notes

The neuter used as a noun, ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón), means arsenic or orpiment from Aristotle on; the DGE thinks this noun probably comes from an Iranian word meaning “golden”, and Chæréphon reports the same view from Chantraine.^[5][11] Galen remarks that doctors said arsenikón while those who wished to write Attic said arrhenikón.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica