ἰδιοσυγκρασία

Forms

ῐ̓δῐοσῠγκρᾱσῐ́ᾱ (idiosunkrāsíā) f (genitive ῐ̓δῐοσῠγκρᾱσῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, peculiar”) + συν- (sun-, “with”) + κρᾶσις (krâsis, “mixture”) + -ία (-íā).^[1][2][3] Babiniotis analyses it as ἴδιος (ídios) with a noun from σύγκρασις (súnkrasis, “mixing”), the mixing of the fluids of the body, and κρᾶσις (krâsis) belongs to κεράννυμι (keránnūmi, “to mix”).^[4][3][5] According to Babiniotis, physicians of the Hellenistic period used the word for the view that a person's character and behaviour depend on how the elements of the body are mixed.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in the 2nd century AD, for the temperament or bodily constitution peculiar to an individual, the result of the particular mixture of its humours.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Galen used it in his medical works, and Ptolemy also has the variant ἰδιοσύγκρασις (idiosúnkrasis), while Soranus and Sextus Empiricus have ἰδιοσυγκρισία (idiosunkrisía).^[2] It remained a rare technical term: GLAUx finds it only three times, in Galen.^[7]

Modern Greek ιδιοσυγκρασία (idiosyngrasía) is a learned revival of the Hellenistic word.^[8] It means the natural physical or mental make-up of a person and the way they react to what happens to them.^[8][9] The English word idiosyncrasy came about 1600 from French idiosyncrasie, from the Latinized form of the Greek word; it was at first a medical term for a person's physical constitution, and its mental sense dates from the 1660s.^[10]

Timeline

• 2nd century AD – Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos uses it, and the variant ἰδιοσύγκρασις (idiosúnkrasis), for an individual's peculiar constitution.^[2][5]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it in his medical works.^[2][7]
• 2nd to 3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus has the variant ἰδιοσυγκρισία (idiosunkrisía).^[2]
• About 1600 – The English word idiosyncrasy is borrowed from French as a medical term.^[10]
• 1660s – The English word takes on its mental sense.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A temperament or bodily constitution peculiar to an individual; an idiosyncrasy.^{[2][5][6][11]}

Related words

• ἴδιος (ídios)
• κρᾶσις (krâsis)
• κεράννυμι (keránnūmi)
• English idiosyncrasy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli