ἀφροδισιακός

Forms

ἀφροδῐσῐᾰκός (aphrodisiakós) m (feminine ἀφροδῐσῐᾰκή, neuter ἀφροδῐσῐᾰκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἀφροδίσιος (aphrodísios, “of Aphrodite”) + -ακός (-akós).^[2][3] The adjective ἀφροδίσιος (aphrodísios) is from the name of the goddess of love, Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC) uses it of sexual pleasures.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In a magical papyrus the neuter plural τὰ ἀφροδισιακά means sexual desires, and Hesychius, under σκύλαξ (skúlax), uses it of a sexual position.^[5] Whether it meant “arousing desire” in Greek is uncertain: a papyrus of the 2nd century AD mentions an ἐλαίδιον ἀφροδισιακόν, a small amount of oil described by this word.^[5][6] Pliny gives the Latin form aphrodisiacus as the name of a precious stone.^[5][6]

English aphrodisiac, a drug that excites sexual desire, is recorded as a noun from 1719, through the Latinized form, and as an adjective from 1775.^[4] Modern Greek αφροδισιακός (afrodisiakós) is a learned word from the Hellenistic one, meaning “arousing sexual desire”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it of sexual pleasures.^[5][6]
• 1st century AD – Pliny gives the Latin form aphrodisiacus as the name of a stone.^[5][6]
• 2nd century AD – A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus applies it to oil.^[5][6]
• 3rd century AD – Hippolytus uses it.^[7][5]
• 1719 – English aphrodisiac is first recorded.^[4]
• Modern Greek – αφροδισιακός (afrodisiakós) means “arousing desire”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Sexual, erotic.^[5][6][9]
2. τὰ ἀφροδισιακά: sexual desires.^[5]
3. (uncertain) Arousing sexual desire, aphrodisiac (of an oil).^[5][6]

Related words

• ἀφροδίσιος (aphrodísios)
• Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē)
• Latin aphrodisiacus
• English aphrodisiac

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg