ἐνθουσιαστικός

Forms

ἐνθουσιαστικός (enthousiastikós), feminine ἐνθουσιαστική, neuter ἐνθουσιαστικόν; comparative ἐνθουσιαστικώτερος, superlative ἐνθουσιαστικώτατος; adverb ἐνθουσιαστικῶς.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιάζω (enthousiázō, “to be possessed by a god”).^[3] That verb is formed from ἔνθους (énthous), a contracted form of ἔνθεος (éntheos, “possessed by a god”), with the verb suffix -ιάζω (-iázō), and Wiktionary suggests that οὐσία (ousía) influenced its shape.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato uses it first, of a prophetic, divinely inspired nature in the Timaeus, and in the Phaedrus has the neuter as a noun for a state of inspiration.^[1][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Plato and Aristotle use the word in two directions.^[1] Passively it describes someone inspired or filled with a god, and Aristotle applies it especially to souls carried away by music.^[1][5] Actively it describes what produces such rapture: certain melodies and harmonies in Aristotle's Politics, and mental illnesses joined with madness in the Problemata.^[1][5] Strabo uses it of the ecstatic cults of the Cabiri and the Corybantes, Plutarch speaks of an inspired, initiatory wisdom, and Iamblichus of ecstasy produced by inspiration.^[2][1]

Modern Greek took the word over as a learned form, Modern Greek ενθουσιαστικός (enthousiastikós), which now means rousing or expressing enthusiasm, as in an enthusiastic song or enthusiastic comments.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of an inspired, prophetic nature and of the state of inspiration.^[1][5][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of souls enraptured by music and of melodies that cause such rapture.^[1][5]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo applies it to the ecstatic rites of the Cabiri and the Corybantes.^[2]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch speaks of an inspired wisdom, meaning divination.^[1][5]
• 5th–6th century AD – Marinus uses the comparative adverb ἐνθουσιαστικώτερον.^[1][2]
• Modern Greek – The learned word ενθουσιαστικός (enthousiastikós) means enthusiastic.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Divinely inspired, possessed by a god; of wisdom, heaven-sent, prophetic.^[1][5][2]
2. Carried away, enraptured, especially by music.^[1][5]
3. (active) Producing rapture or excitement, exciting, of music and of certain illnesses.^[1][5]
4. (neuter as noun) τὸ ἐνθουσιαστικόν: the state of inspiration, excitement.^[1][5]

Related words

• ἐνθουσιάζω (enthousiázō)
• ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmós)
• ἔνθεος (éntheos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος