ἐπιδημία

Forms

ἐπῐδημίᾱ (epidēmíā) f (genitive ἐπῐδημίᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic ἐπιδημίη (epidēmíē), in the Hippocratic writings.^[2][3] Doric ἐπιδαμία (epidāmíā), on Rhodes.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπιδημέω (epidēméō, “to be at home, to stay in a place”) + -ία (-íā).^[1][4] The verb belongs with ἐπίδημος (epídēmos, “living at home”), which is ἐπί (epí) with δῆμος (dêmos, “people, district”),^[5][6][7] like ἔνδημος (éndēmos) and ἀπόδημος (apódēmos, “abroad”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Constitution of the Athenians ascribed to Xenophon, for the stays of the allies in Athens, and Plato uses it for a stay in a city.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word meant a stay or sojourn in a place, a visit by a foreigner, and in Menander a homecoming from abroad.^[8][3] In the Hippocratic writings it is the prevalence of a disease among a people, and the title of the seven books of the Epidemics.^[3][6] Aelian applies it to rain, and in the imperial period it is the visit of an emperor, in Herodian and an inscription from Thyatira.^[3] Most of its recorded uses fall in the 2nd century AD.^[2] A Christian writer calls a human life the sojourn of the flesh in this world.^[9]

It was borrowed as Latin epidemia, and later were the Russian and Bulgarian words for an epidemic.^[1] English epidemic comes from French épidémique, which goes back to Medieval Latin.^[7] Medieval vernacular Greek also used it for a raid.^[10] In Modern Greek the learned επιδημία (epidimía) is an outbreak of disease, and figuratively a run of unpleasant events.^[11]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Constitution of the Athenians ascribed to Xenophon uses it for the stays of the allies in Athens.^[3][2]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Nature of Man uses it for the spread of a disease.^[3][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a stay in a city.^[3][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Menander uses it for a homecoming from abroad.^[8]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Herodian uses it for an emperor's visit, and Aelian for a spell of rain.^[3]
• 1100–1669 – A vernacular romance of Alexander uses it for a raid.^[10]
• About 1600 – English takes epidemic from French, which goes back to this word through Medieval Latin.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned επιδημία (epidimía) means an outbreak of disease.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stay or sojourn in a place; a visit, also of an emperor.^[3][8]
2. A homecoming from abroad.^[8]
3. Arrival at a place.^[3]
4. (medicine) The prevalence of an epidemic disease.^[3]
5. (Doric) The right of residence.^[3]
6. (Christian) The sojourn of earthly life.^[9]

Related words

• ἐπίδημος (epídēmos)
• ἐπιδημέω (epidēméō)
• ἀποδημία (apodēmíā)
• δῆμος (dêmos)
• Latin epidemia
• English epidemic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki