ἐξορκιστής

Forms

ἐξορκῐστής (exorkistḗs) m (genitive ἐξορκῐστοῦ); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐξορκίζω (exorkízō, “to adjure, exorcise”) + -τής (-tḗs), an agent noun from the verb.^[1][2][3] The verb is made of ἐξ- (ex-) and ὁρκίζω (horkízō, “to make someone swear”), from ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Acts of the Apostles, of wandering Judean exorcists who drove out evil spirits.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb ἐξορκίζω (exorkízō) first meant to administer an oath, and then to adjure someone by a god; in magical papyri and curse tablets it is the solemn command laid on spirits.^[6][7][4] The agent noun named the man who drove out evil spirits by such invocations.^[8][4] Besides Acts, it occurs in an epigram attributed to Lucian and in Ptolemy's Apotelesmatica.^[6][4]

Coptic borrowed it, with manuscripts from about AD 880.^[9] Late Latin took it as exorcista, the source of English exorcist (late 14th century).^[10] Modern Greek εξορκιστής (eksorkistís) is a learned revival, with a feminine εξορκίστρια (eksorkístria).^[11]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles speaks of wandering Judean exorcists.^[4][5]
• 2nd century AD – An epigram attributed to Lucian uses it.^[6][12][5]
• 2nd century AD – Ptolemy uses it in the Apotelesmatica.^[6][4]
• About AD 880 – The first Coptic manuscripts with the borrowed word are written.^[9]
• Late 14th century – English exorcist is recorded, through Late Latin.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The learned word εξορκιστής (eksorkistís) means one who performs exorcisms.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An exorcist: one who drives out evil spirits by invoking divine powers or by spells.^[6][4][8]
2. One who administers an oath.^[2]

Related words

• ἐξορκίζω (exorkízō)
• ὅρκος (hórkos)
• English exorcist

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
3. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg