ἐπίβουλος

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “against, upon”) + βουλή (boulḗ, “plan, counsel”),^[1][2] formed like ἐπιβουλή (epiboulḗ, “plot”) and ἐπιβουλεύω (epibouleúō, “to plot against”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Aeschylus' Suppliants, where afflictions sent by a god are called treacherous.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Attic prose it describes scheming, treacherous people and characters (Xenophon, Lysias, Theophrastus), and Plato's Eros, who has designs on the beautiful and the good.^[4][5] Aristotle applies it to animals that lie in wait, and Plutarch to creatures that prey on man.^[4] In Polybius it is a noun, a plotter against someone's life and throne.^[5] The Septuagint uses it for treacherous adversaries,^[7] and Hesychius glosses it with “enemy” and “slanderer”.^[8]

It was borrowed into Sahidic Coptic as ⲉⲡⲓⲃⲟⲩⲗⲟⲥ (epiboulos).^[9] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for malicious, deceitful people and deeds,^[10] and Modern Greek επίβουλος (epívoulos) is a rare learned word for scheming or underhand.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus calls afflictions sent by a god treacherous.^[4][5][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Plato use it of scheming people and of Eros.^[4][5][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle applies it to animals that lie in wait.^[4][12]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it as a noun, a plotter.^[5][12]
• About AD 800 – A Sahidic Coptic manuscript has the borrowed word.^[9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for deceitful people and deeds.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Plotting against someone; scheming, treacherous.^[4][5]
2. Of animals: lying in wait, preying on others.^[4]
3. Of afflictions: treacherous, sent by design.^[4][5]

Noun

1. A plotter.^[5]

References

1. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge