Etymologically
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ἔμπειρος

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ém.peː.ros/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈem.pi.ros/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈem.pi.ros/[1]

Forms

ἔμπειρος (émpeiros) m or f (neuter ἔμπειρον); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-) + πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, experience”) + -ος (-os), “in experience”.[1][2][3] Its opposite is ἄπειρος (ápeiros, “inexperienced”), formed from the same noun.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pindar and Aeschylus, in the 6th–5th century BC.[4][3] Pindar says that war is sweet to the inexperienced but that one who has known it dreads its approach.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Herodotus, the tragedians and Thucydides the adjective means “experienced” or “acquainted with” something, usually with the genitive: with a country, with the sea, with a rite, with someone's intentions.[2][4] It is used above all of skill in war and seafaring, and then of every art and profession, from poetry and medicine to geometry and music.[4] In tragedy it can also mean one who has been through troubles, and Hesychius glosses it as “patient, enduring”.[4]

Its derivatives ἐμπειρία (empeiría) “experience” and ἐμπειρικός (empeirikós) “experienced” are old, and in the Hellenistic period ἐμπειρικός came to mean a physician who relies only on practice.[3] Medieval Greek kept the adjective, and Modern Greek uses έμπειρος (émbiros) as a learned word, “experienced”, of a person in his work.[5][6]

Timeline

  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it of those who have experienced war or troubles.[4][2][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of knowing a country, a rite or someone's mind, and Thucydides of skill at sea and in war.[2][4]
  • 4th century BC – Plato uses it of skill in geometry and other arts.[4]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the derivative ἐμπειρικός.[3]
  • Modern Greek – έμπειρος (émpeiros) survives as a learned word for “experienced”.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Experienced, practised, especially in war or at sea.[2][7][4]
  2. Having been through something, having experience of it; without a complement, one who has known hardship.[4]
  3. Acquainted with, knowing about something, such as a place, a rite or a person's mind.[2][4]
  4. Skilled or expert in an art or profession.[4]

Word family

  • ἐμπειρία (empeiría)
  • ἐμπειρικός (empeirikós)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 m Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  5. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  7. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press