ἀστρολόγος

Forms

ᾰ̓στρολόγος (astrológos) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓στρολόγον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) + λέγω (légō, “to reckon, tell”), “one who reckons or describes the stars”.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes the first part as ἀστήρ (astḗr, “star”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Xenophon's Memorabilia, where the question is whether someone wants to become an astronomer.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek the word meant an astronomer, one who studies and explains the movements of the stars.^[4][5] From the Hellenistic period on it also, and later chiefly, meant an astrologer, who uses the stars to foretell events: Epicurus scorns the “slavish devices” of astrologers, the Septuagint's Isaiah mentions them, and so does Sextus Empiricus.^[6][5][7] It was borrowed as Latin astrologus.^[8]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for one who foretells the future from the stars.^[9] Modern Greek αστρολόγος (astrológos) is a learned word taken from the Hellenistic one, and only means astrologer; the ancient sense “astronomer” has passed to other words.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for an astronomer.^[5][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Epicurus uses it for an astrologer.^[6][5]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint's Isaiah uses it for astrologers.^[7][11]
• 1st century BC – A Delphic inscription records an astrologer.^[5][6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for a fortune-teller who reads the stars.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned word αστρολόγος (astrológos) means an astrologer.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An astronomer.^[5][4][6]
2. An astrologer.^[5][4][6]

Word family

• ἀστρολογία (astrologíā)

Related words

• ἀστρονόμος (astronómos)
• Latin astrologus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
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
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux