ἡγεμονία

Forms

ἡγεμονῐ́ᾱ (hēgemoníā) f (genitive ἡγεμονῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn, “leader, guide”) + -ία (-íā).^[1] The noun ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn) is formed from ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to lead”) with the suffix -μων (-mōn).^[1] Beekes takes the verb as an iterative present from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to trace, search”), matching Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”), and English seek is cognate.^[2][1][3] Other scholars take it as a middle formation beside ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it of the lead position in a shoal of fish, literally “leading the way”, and also of the rule of a dynasty.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word moved from going first to command.^[4][5] Thucydides uses it of a general's command, Aeschines of the presidency of a law court, and Philodemus of the headship of a philosophical school.^[4][5] In the 4th century BC it became the term for the supremacy of one city-state over others, on land or by sea, as in Xenophon and Isocrates;^[4][5] The earliest such alliance was the one through which Sparta secured its position in the Peloponnese in the 6th century BC.^[6] Plato and Aristotle use it of control and guidance in general, as of the soul over the body.^[5]

Under Rome it rendered Latin imperium: Polybius and Plutarch use it of Roman power, Luke dates events by the reign (ἡγεμονία) of Tiberius, and papyri use it of the office of prefect.^[4][5][7] The Septuagint and later Greek also use it of a military unit, a regiment.^[4][8] Coptic borrowed it, and medieval Greek kept it for sovereignty, royal power and a kingdom.^[9][10]

In Modern Greek ηγεμονία (igemonía) is a learned word: “principality” (as in the Danubian principalities, after French principauté) and “dominance, hegemony”.^[11] English took hegemony from it in the 1560s, first of the leading position of a Greek city-state.^[3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of leading the way and of royal rule, and Thucydides of a general's command.^[4][5][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Isocrates use it of supremacy over Greece and by sea.^[4][12]
• 4th century BC – Aeschines uses it of the presidency of a law court.^[4][12]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for the Latin imperium, and Luke's Gospel uses it of the reign of an emperor.^[4][7][12]
• About AD 500 – It is recorded as a loanword in Sahidic Coptic.^[9]
• 1560s – English borrows it as hegemony.^[3]
• Modern Greek – The learned word ηγεμονία (igemonía) means a principality and political dominance.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leading the way, going first; the lead position.^[4][5]
2. Authority, rule, command, of dynasties, nations or generals.^[4][5]
3. The presidency of a law court; the headship of a philosophical school.^[4]
4. Control and guidance, as of the soul over the body.^[5]
5. Political supremacy of one state over others, hegemony.^[4][5]
6. (Roman period) The power of Rome (Latin imperium); the reign of an emperor; the office of a prefect.^[4][5][7]
7. A territory under a ruler, an empire.^[5]
8. A military unit, a regiment; in the Septuagint also the district of a chief.^[4][8]

Related words

• ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn)
• ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai)
• English hegemony

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge