ἐποχή

Forms

ἐποχή (epokhḗ) f (genitive ἐποχῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Ancient Greek ἐπέχω (epékhō, “to hold back, stop”),^[1][2][3] built on the o-grade stem ⟨-οχ-⟩ with the suffix -ή (-ḗ).^[1][3][4] The same pattern gives ἀποχή (apokhḗ) beside ἀπέχω (apékhō) and συνοχή (sunokhḗ) beside συνέχω (sunékhō).^[4] The verb is a compound of ἐπί (epí) and ἔχω (ékhō, “to hold, have”).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest texts that LSJ cites use it in philosophy, for the suspension of judgement: the philosopher Metrodorus and the Stoic Chrysippus.^[6] In the GLAUx corpus the first passages are later, in Polybius, where it means a check or halt.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The word starts from the sense of the verb, “a holding back”: a check or cessation, as of a war or of someone's progress (Polybius, Plutarch).^[6][8] Doctors used it for the retention of seed, urine or faeces, and for the suppression of the menses (Galen, Soranus).^[6] In philosophy it became the technical term of the Sceptics: the sceptic suspends judgement because no reason for a view is free from an opposing reason.^[9][6] Papyri of the 2nd century AD use it for the suspension of a payment.^[6]

In astronomy the “halt” was the point where a star seems to stop, and so its position in latitude and longitude.^[6][2][4] Ptolemy also used the word for the fixed moment from which such positions are reckoned, the epoch.^[6][2][4] Nicomachus' musical theory has it for a period of vibration.^[6]

Through Medieval Latin epocha the word reached English in the 1610s, first for a point that starts a new period and soon for the period itself.^[5][1] Modern Greek εποχή (epochí) continues the Hellenistic word; its usual sense of “period, era, season” is partly modelled on French époque.^[10][4]

Timeline

• 4th–3rd century BC – The philosopher Metrodorus uses it for the suspension of judgement.^[6][11]
• 3rd century BC – Chrysippus uses it in the same philosophical sense.^[6][11]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a check or cessation, as of a war.^[6][8][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for a pause of light in an eclipse and for the positions of stars in a horoscope.^[6][8][11]
• 2nd century AD – Ptolemy uses it for the position of a star or city and for the fixed point of time from which positions are reckoned.^[6][11]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus makes it the key term of Sceptic philosophy.^[6][9][11]
• 1610s – English borrows it as epoch, through Medieval Latin epocha.^[5]
• Modern Greek – εποχή (epochí) means a period of time, partly after French époque.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A check, stop or cessation of an activity.^[6][8]
2. (medicine) retention of seed, urine or faeces; suppression of the menses.^[6]
3. (philosophy) suspension of judgement, the Sceptic's refusal to assent.^[6][8][9]
4. (papyri) Suspension of a payment.^[6]
5. A pause, as of light during an eclipse.^[6]
6. (astronomy) The position of a star or place in latitude and longitude.^[6][8]
7. (astronomy) A fixed point in time from which positions are reckoned, an epoch.^[6][2]
8. (music) A period of vibration.^[6]

Related words

• ἐπέχω (epékhō)
• ἔχω (ékhō)
• Latin epocha
• English epoch

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge