ἀρχή

Forms

ᾰ̓ρχή (arkhḗ) f (genitive ᾰ̓ρχῆς); first declension^[1] Doric and Boeotian ἀρχά, Lesbian ἄρχα.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to be first; to begin; to rule”) + -η (-ē), the verbal noun of ἄρχω.^[1][4][5]

Like the verb, the noun has two sides, being first in time (“beginning”) and being first in rank (“rule”).^[3][5] The origin of ἄρχω itself is uncertain: Klingenschmitt derived it from a present *h₂r̥-ske/o- “to be first in order and rank”, while the LIV, following Tichy, puts it under a root *regʰ- found in Middle High German ragen (“to rise”), which Beekes finds possible only with an initial laryngeal, whereas Frisk and Chantraine only compare ὄρχαμος (órkhamos, “commander”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on in the sense “beginning, origin”: the Iliad speaks of the beginning of a quarrel, the Odyssey of the beginning of a woe and of slaughter.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

From “beginning” the word passed to “starting point, foundation, cause”, to the beginning of a song or speech and of all things, and to the end of a rope or the corner of a cloth.^[3][6] Phrases with prepositions became adverbs: ἐξ ἀρχῆς “from the beginning, from of old” (already in the Odyssey), ἀπ' ἀρχῆς and κατ' ἀρχάς “at first”.^[6]

The second sense, “rule, authority”, is found from Pindar on.^[4] It covered power over a land or people, an empire, a satrap's province, a reign or term of office, a magistracy and, in the plural, the magistrates or authorities themselves.^[3][6] The office building of the magistrates was the ἀρχεῖον, the source of the word archive.^[8]

In philosophy ἀρχή became the first principle of things: the Milesian philosophers sought it in a single substance, air for Anaximenes, and Aristotle analysed its senses as foundation, source and cause, and it was rendered by Latin principium, whence the English principle.^[8][3] The Septuagint opens with “In the beginning” and also uses the word for power, office and the heads of families, and the New Testament has both “beginning” (the beginning of the gospel in Mark) and “ruler, authority”.^[9][10][2]

Medieval Greek kept it, and as Modern Greek αρχή (archí) it means “beginning” and “authority” in Modern Greek; its sense “principle” was revived in learned use on the model of French principe.^[11][12][13]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of the beginning of a quarrel or a woe, and the Odyssey has ἐξ ἀρχῆς “from of old”.^[6][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for rule or authority.^[4][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for empire, sovereignty and magistracies.^[3][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a first principle.^[3][8]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint translates “In the beginning” at the opening of Genesis with it.^[9]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Mark opens with “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ”.^[2][10]
• Modern Greek – αρχή (archí) means “beginning” and “authority”, and in learned use “principle”, after French principe.^[12][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beginning, start, origin.^[6][3]
2. A starting point, foundation; cause or source of something.^[3]
3. The beginning of time or of creation.^[3][10]
4. The end of a rope or cable; the corner of a cloth.^[3]
5. (philosophy) A first principle, element; a principle of a science.^[3][6]
6. Rule, authority, sovereignty, power.^[3][6]
7. A magistracy, office; a term of office, reign.^[3]
8. A magistrate, a board of magistrates.^[3] (plural) The authorities.^[6]
9. A realm, empire; a province.^[3]

Word family

• ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos)
• ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon)
• ἀρχικός (arkhikós)

Related words

• ἄρχω (árkhō)
• ἄρχων (árkhōn)
• ἀρχός (arkhós)
• Latin principium

Usage notes

Adverbial phrases with prepositions are common: ἐξ ἀρχῆς “from the start”, also “anew”, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς “from the first” and κατ' ἀρχάς “in the beginning”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας