Etymologically
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ἔξοδος

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ék.so.dos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈek.so.ðos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈek.so.ðos/[1]

Forms

ἔξοδος (éxodos) f (genitive ἐξόδου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of the prefix ἐξ- (ex-, “out”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”): “a going out, a way out”.[1][2][3] The origin of ὁδός is uncertain.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes speaks of the exits of the city gates.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a going out or departure, as opposed to εἴσοδος (eísodos, “entrance”), in Sophocles and Herodotus; a marching out, a military expedition; a procession, especially of women of rank with their attendants; and a way out, an exit.[4][1] A papyrus of the 1st century BC uses it for a divorce.[4]

As a euphemism it meant death, the departure from life, in Sophocles and later.[2][1] Second Peter speaks of “after my departure”.[2][1] The Septuagint uses it for the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the second book of the Bible came to be called Ἔξοδος.[1] Hebrews refers to the exodus.[5][2][1]

English exodus came from it through Latin in late Old English, as the name of the book.[3] Modern Greek έξοδος (éxodos) is an exit or a going out, and, after French exode or English exodus, a mass departure.[6]

Timeline

  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the exits of gates.[4]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a military expedition and Sophocles for death.[4][2]
  • 1st century BC – A papyrus uses it for a divorce.[4]
  • 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the exodus from Egypt.[5]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for death and for the exodus.[2]
  • Late Old English – English borrows Exodus as the name of the book.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A going out, departure.[4][1]
  2. A marching out; a military expedition.[4]
  3. A procession.[4]
  4. A way out, exit, outlet.[4][5]
  5. A divorce.[4][1]
  6. An end, close.[1][5]
  7. (euphemistic) death.[2][1]
  8. (Septuagint) The exodus from Egypt.[5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  6. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki