ἐπιφάνεια

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /e.pi.pʰá.neː.a/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /e.piˈɸa.ni.a/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /e.piˈfa.ni.a/^[1]

Forms

ἐπῐφᾰ́νειᾰ (epipháneia) f (genitive ἐπῐφᾰνείᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is derived from ἐπιφανής (epiphanḗs, “in view, manifest”) with the suffix -ια (-ia).^[1][2] The adjective is from ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō, “to come into view”), formed from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) and φαίνω (phaínō, “to show, bring to light”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

BDAG traces it to the Presocratics.^[4] Plato uses it, with a play on its sense of a god's manifestation, for a person's emergence into the limelight.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its senses are many: Polybius uses it for the coming into view of daybreak, the sudden appearance of an enemy, the visible face of a body of troops or a city, and splendour or ostentation.^[5][6] Aristotle and Polybius use it in geometry for a surface, and Isocrates and Plutarch for fame and distinction.^[5] Above all it was the manifestation of a god to his worshippers, as in Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Plutarch, and a festival commemorating such an appearance; sacrifices called ἐπιφάνεια were offered for it.^[6][5][2]

In the Second and Third Books of Maccabees it is God's intervention and manifestation.^[7][8] In the New Testament it is the advent or manifestation of Christ.^[1][2] Latin borrowed it as epiphania, and English epiphany came from it through French in the early 14th century, as the name of the festival of the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.^[1][2] Modern Greek επιφάνεια (epifáneia) means “surface”, a sense reinforced by French surface.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for prominence.^[5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a geometrical surface, and Isocrates for fame.^[5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for daybreak and the sudden appearance of an enemy.^[6][5]
• 2nd–1st century BC – The Books of Maccabees use it for God's intervention.^[7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the coming of Christ.^[1][2]
• Early 14th century – English borrows epiphany through French.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An appearance, coming into view, as of daybreak or of an enemy.^[6][5]
2. The manifestation of a god, an epiphany, or (New Testament) the advent of Christ.^[6][1]
3. Physical appearance, aspect.^[5]
4. (geometry) A surface; the visible face of something.^[5][1]
5. Conspicuousness, splendour, or (pejorative) ostentation.^[5]
6. Fame, distinction.^[5][1]

Related words

• ἐπιφανής (epiphanḗs)
• ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō)
• φαίνω (phaínō)
• English epiphany

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki