ἐπιστήμη

Forms

ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē) f (genitive ἐπῐστήμης); first declension^[1] Doric ἐπιστάμα (epistáma).^[2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai, “to know how, understand”), formed with the suffix -μη (-mē).^[1][2][3] Beekes and Chantraine explain the verb as ἐπί (epí) with ἵσταμαι (hístamai, “to stand”), with the breathing lost early, through a development from "stand over or before something" to "be acquainted with it", like Old High German firstān and Old English forstandan.^[4][5] Chantraine suggests the loss of the breathing points to an Ionic origin, and notes that the verb was first used of practical skills.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the 5th century BC, in Sophocles and Thucydides.^[6] Its earliest sense is practical skill: Sophocles uses it for skill in archery, and Thucydides for skill in war.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Sophocles also uses it for knowledge in general.^[7][2] Plato made it the term for scientific knowledge as opposed to δόξα (dóxa, “opinion”), and placed it in a system in which virtue is linked with knowledge;^[7][5] Plato and Aristotle also pair and contrast it with ἐμπειρία (empeiría, “experience”) and τέχνη (tékhnē, “craft”), and the plural names the sciences.^[7][2] In papyri of the Roman period it means a profession: a painter "by profession".^[7]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for knowledge, for a body of systematic knowledge, and for a craft.^[8] Modern Greek επιστήμη (epistími), "science", is a learned form of the ancient word, its modern sense a semantic loan from French science, which comes from Latin scientia, itself a translation of ἐπιστήμη.^[9] English borrowed it as the learned episteme.^[1]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for skill in archery and for knowledge in general.^[7][2][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for skill in war.^[7][2][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato opposes it to opinion as scientific knowledge.^[7][2][10]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle contrasts it with experience and craft.^[7][10]
• 2nd century AD – A papyrus uses it for a doctor's profession.^[7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for knowledge and for a craft.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned επιστήμη (epistími) takes the sense "science" from French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Acquaintance with a matter, practical understanding, skill (in archery, war, swimming).^[7][2]
2. (papyri) Professional skill; a profession.^[7]
3. Knowledge in general; in the plural, kinds of knowledge.^[7][2]
4. (philosophy) Scientific knowledge, science, as opposed to opinion or to practical craft; in the plural, the sciences.^[7][2]

Related words

• ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai)
• English episteme

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge