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ἰθύς

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἰθύς

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek εὐθύς

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /iː.tʰýs/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /iˈθys/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /iˈθys/[1]

Forms

ῑ̓θῠ́ς (īthús) m (feminine ῑ̓θεῖᾰ, neuter ῑ̓θῠ́); first/third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unclear.[2] It is the Ionic and epic counterpart of an Attic adjective with the same meaning.[3][2] A Cretan feminine εἰθεῖα (eitheîa) confirms an older *εἰθύς (*eithús).[2] Willi connects the Ionic and the Attic adjective with a root Proto-Indo-European *Hieudʰ-, which he takes to mean “to make right”,[2] and Wiktionary, following him, derives ἰθύς from the Cretan type by metaphony, and that in turn from Ancient Greek εὐθύς (euthús) by dissimilation.[1] The old comparison with Sanskrit साधु (sādhú, “straight, just”) is obsolete, Beekes says, because the Sanskrit word has a laryngeal.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the adjective is used in the moral sense “just” of a judgement, and the adverb ἰθύς means “straight at” someone or something.[3][2] The noun, only in the accusative, means a straight course in Homer, as in “against the stream”, and an enterprise or purpose, as in “in every undertaking”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod and the Hymn to Demeter speak of straight judgements, set against crooked ones, and Theognis and Bacchylides keep the moral sense.[3] Herodotus uses the word often, of a straight road, of a straight and just man, and of sailing straight to a place, and his ἐκ τῆς ἰθείης means “openly”.[3] The adverb and the derived verbs ἰθύω (ithúō, “to go straight, aim”) and ἰθύνω (ithúnō, “to straighten, steer”) are already Homeric.[2]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses the adverb for going straight at someone, the adjective of a just judgement, and the noun for a course or enterprise.[3][2]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod speaks of straight judgements.[3][4]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis uses the adjective in a moral sense.[3][5][4]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a straight road and of a just man.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Straight, direct.[3]
  2. (moral) Just, straightforward.[3]

Adverb

  1. Straight at, straight towards, usually with a genitive.[3]
  2. Straight on, without turning.[3]

Noun

  1. A straight course or direction, in the phrase ἀν’ ἰθύν, “straight against”.[3][2]
  2. An enterprise or undertaking; a purpose or design.[3][2]

Word family

  • ἰθύω (ithúō)
  • ἰθύνω (ithúnō)
  • εὐθύς (euthús)
  • εἶθαρ (eîthar)

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 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
Cite this entry

“Ἰθύς.” Etymologically, 30 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%B0%CE%B8%CF%8D%CF%82. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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