ἐπεισόδιον

Forms

ἐπεισόδῐον (epeisódion) n (genitive ἐπεισοδίου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἐπεισόδιος (epeisódios, “coming in besides”), the neuter used as a noun.^[2][3][4] The adjective is formed from ἐπείσοδος (epeísodos, “a coming in besides”) with the suffix -ιος (-ios),^[1][5][6] or, in another analysis, from ἐπί (epí, “in addition”) and εἰσόδιος (eisódios), from εἴσοδος (eísodos, “entrance”).^[1][4][7] That noun is made of εἰς (eis, “into”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest use LSJ gives is from the comic poet Metagenes, for an interlude in a comedy.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective ἐπεισόδιος (epeisódios) means "coming in besides, adventitious": Plutarch contrasts what is inborn with what is added from outside.^[2][9] The noun was at first an addition of this kind, made for pleasure.^[2]

Aristotle's Poetics made it a term of literary criticism: in tragedy it is the part of dialogue between two complete choral songs, and more generally a section or an episode that could stand on its own, such as the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad.^[2][10][3] As a technical term for a part of a tragedy it is found only in the Poetics; other authors speak of a "part".^[3] Dionysius of Halicarnassus applies it to digressions in prose speeches.^[2]

Polybius speaks figuratively of the "interludes of Fortune", events that break into a larger train of events, and an epigram calls a dessert an "addition for the belly".^[2][10] The Byzantine lexica define it as something brought into a play for laughter, outside the plot, and loosely as anything extraneous.^[11][12][13]

English took the word as episode in the 1670s, from French épisode or directly from Greek, and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese borrowed it too.^[8][1] Modern Greek επεισόδιο (epeisódio) is learned: it keeps the ancient sense of a subplot and the Hellenistic one of a chance event, takes the sense "incident" from French and "instalment of a serial" from English.^[14][4]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Metagenes uses it for an interlude in comedy.^[2][15]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Poetics uses it for the dialogue between choral songs in tragedy and for digressions in epic.^[2][10][15]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius speaks of the interludes of Fortune.^[2][10][15]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it for digressions in prose.^[2][15]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for additions made for pleasure, and the adjective for what comes from outside.^[2][9][15]
• 3rd century AD – Plotinus uses it figuratively.^[2][15]
• 12th century – The Etymologicum Magnum defines it as an addition to a play for the sake of laughter.^[11]
• 1670s – English borrows it as episode.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned word επεισόδιο (epeisódio) means an episode or incident.^[14][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An addition brought in for pleasure; of a dessert, an “addition for the belly”.^[2][9]
2. (drama) In tragedy, the portion of dialogue between two choral songs; an episode or scene.^[2][10][3]
3. (literature) A digression or section that could stand by itself, in epic, poetry or prose.^[2][10]
4. (comedy) An interlude.^[2]
5. (figurative) An incident that interrupts a more important course of events: the “interludes” of Fortune.^[2][10]

Word family

• ἐπεισοδιώδης (epeisodiṓdēs)
• ἐπεισοδιόω (epeisodióō)

Related words

• ἐπεισόδιος (epeisódios)
• ἐπείσοδος (epeísodos)
• εἴσοδος (eísodos)
• ὁδός (hodós)
• English episode
• French épisode
• Italian episodio

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
10. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ a b Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
13. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge