ἐθνικός

Forms

ἐθνῐκός (ethnikós) m (feminine ἐθνῐκή, neuter ἐθνῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos, “people, nation”) + -ικός (-ikós), like γενικός (genikós) from γένος (génos).^[2][1][3] The origin of ἔθνος (éthnos) itself is unclear.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Polybius, in the 2nd century BC, meaning “national”, of a federal union and of the institutions of a people as opposed to those of a city.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic Greek it meant “belonging to a nation, national”, and also “ethnic”, of the differences between peoples;^[4] Philo and Josephus used it of the Jewish people.^[4][7] The grammarians used it of dialect words and of ethnic names such as “Phrygian”, and Stephanus of Byzantium's work on the names of peoples was called the Ethnica.^[4]

In the New Testament the noun ὁ ἐθνικός is a Gentile, a non-Jew, in Matthew paired with the tax collector.^[7][5][4] Christian writers then used it for “pagan”, and in the administration of the Roman provinces it meant “provincial”.^[4] The word passed into Late Latin as ethnicus, from which English took ethnic in the late 15th century, at first meaning “pagan”.^[8] In Modern Greek εθνικός (ethnikós) is a learned word meaning “national”, with sense influence from Italian nazionale and French national.^[9][3]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for “national”.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – Josephus uses it of the Jewish nation.^[4][7]
• 1st century AD – Matthew's Gospel uses ὁ ἐθνικός for a Gentile.^[7][4]
• 2nd century AD – The Shepherd of Hermas warns against friendships with pagans.^[4][7]
• 6th century AD – Stephanus of Byzantium's Ethnica lists the ethnic names of places.^[4]
• Late 15th century – English borrows it through Late Latin as ethnic, meaning “pagan”.^[8]
• Modern Greek – εθνικός (ethnikós) is the learned word for “national”.^[9][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a nation or people, national.^[4][5]
2. Ethnic, relating to the differences between peoples.^[4]
3. (grammar) Dialectal; of a noun, naming a people, ethnic.^[4]
4. (Christian) Pagan, heathen.^[4][7]
5. (Roman administration) Provincial.^[4]

Noun

1. (New Testament) A Gentile, someone who is not a Jew.^[7][5]
2. (grammar) An ethnic name.^[4]

Related words

• ἔθνος (éthnos)
• Latin ethnicus
• English ethnic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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
3. ^ a b c 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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki