ἄνοδος

Forms

ᾰ̓́νοδος (ánodos) f (genitive ᾰ̓νόδου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”), “the way up”.^[1][2][3] Its opposite is κάθοδος (káthodos, “way down”).^[4]

Beekes traces the noun to Proto-Indo-European *sod- (“course”) and notes the traditional comparison with Old Church Slavonic ходъ (xodŭ, “walk, course”), although the Slavic word shows difficulties.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it for the way up to the Acropolis of Athens and for the long march inland from the coast to the Persian king.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Like ἀνάβασις (anábasis), it was used for a journey inland, above all into Central Asia: Xenophon uses it in the Anabasis for the march inland.^[6][4][7] Aristotle uses it of the rising of moisture, Aratus of the rising of a star, and Polybius of the slope of a hill.^[6][4] In Plato's Republic the soul's ascent to the intelligible world is an ἄνοδος, and later Platonists use it for the return of the soul to its source,^[6][4] and Eusebius uses it of the ascension of Christ.^[6][4]

At Athens it was the name of the first (or second) day of the Thesmophoria, when, Hesychius explains, the women went up to the Thesmophorion.^[6][4][8] In Egyptian papyri of the 3rd century AD it also means an official visit and an appeal to a higher court.^[4]

The word survives in medieval and Modern Greek (άνοδος (ánodos), learned), where its senses “rise” and “climb” are partly modelled on French.^[9][10] In 1834 William Whewell coined English anode from it, from the path the current was thought to take, and Modern Greek took back the electrical sense from English or French.^[11][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the way up to the Acropolis and of the journey inland to the Persian king.^[6][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it in the Anabasis for the march inland, and Plato of the ascent of the soul.^[6][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the rising of moisture.^[6][4]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of the slope of a hill.^[6][4]
• 3rd century AD – Papyri use it for an official visit and for an appeal.^[4]
• 4th century AD – Alciphron names a day of the Thesmophoria with it.^[6][4]
• 1834 – William Whewell coins English anode from it.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned word άνοδος (ánodos) means ascent, rise and, in physics, anode.^[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A way up, an ascent, such as the road to the Acropolis.^[6][4]
2. A journey inland or upcountry, especially into Central Asia.^[6][4]
3. A rising: of moisture, of a star; the slope of a hill.^[6][4]
4. (philosophy) The ascent of the soul to the intelligible world or to its source.^[6][4]
5. The first (or second) day of the Θεσμοφόρια (Thesmophória).^[6][4][8]
6. (papyri) An official visit; an appeal to a higher authority.^[4]

Related words

• ὁδός (hodós)
• κάθοδος (káthodos)
• ἀνάβασις (anábasis)
• English anode

Usage notes

A separate adjective ἄνοδος, formed with the privative ἀ- (a-) and ὁδός (hodós) (LSJ ἄνοδος (A)), means “without a road, impassable”: Euripides speaks of roads that are no roads, and Xenophon contrasts it with εὔοδος (eúodos, “easy to travel”).^[6][4][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ 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 l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
8. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com