Etymologically
Log in

ἐρωτικός

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἐρωτικός

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
400s BC Thucydides More words from the 5th century BC
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ἔρως
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek ἔραμαι (éramai)
Ancient Greek ἔρως (érōs)
Ancient Greek ἐρωτικός (erōtikós)
From the same root
Ancient Greek ἐράω (eráō) ← ἔραμαι
English erotic ← ἐρωτικός

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /e.rɔː.ti.kós/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /e.ro.tiˈkos/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /e.ro.tiˈkos/[1]

Forms

ἐρωτῐκός (erōtikós) m (feminine ἐρωτῐκή, neuter ἐρωτῐκόν); first/second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἔρως (érōs, “love”) + -ικός (-ikós).[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thucydides is the first author with the word: he uses it of the anger and grief that a love affair caused in the story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and of the affair itself.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose it meant “of love”: Plato speaks of a discourse on love and of the art of love, and calls a person skilled in love matters deinos peri ta erōtika.[4][2] Of persons it meant amorous, prone to love, in Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle and Theocritus.[4][2] Aristotle names love affairs among the causes of revolutions, and Bion speaks of a love song.[4][2] Plutarch also uses it without any sexual sense, of a passionate eagerness for something.[2]

The word lived on in medieval Greek,[6] and Modern Greek ερωτικός (erotikós) is the learned continuation of the ancient adjective.[7][3] French took it as érotique in the 16th century, and English borrowed erotic from French in the 1650s.[8]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of passion and grief caused by love.[4][2]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of discourses on love and of the art of love, and of persons inclined to love.[4][2]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of love affairs and of the friendship of lovers.[4][2]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of an amorous man.[4]
  • 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of passionate eagerness for something, and the neuter plural for love affairs and love letters.[2]
  • 1650s – English borrows erotic through French.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or caused by love; about love (of a speech or song); of a love affair.[4][2]
  2. Of a lover: erotic, sexual (of feelings, desires, behaviour).[2]
  3. (of persons) amorous, prone to love; skilled in love matters.[4][2]
  4. Passionately eager for something.[2]
  5. (as a noun, neuter plural) Matters of love, love affairs, and in Plutarch love letters.[2][4]
  6. (as a noun, feminine) The friendship of lovers; the art of love.[4][2]

Word family

  • ἐρωτικῶς (erōtikôs)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Ἐρωτικός.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%90%CF%81%CF%89%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·