ἰωβηλαῖος

Forms

ἰωβηλαῖος (iōbēlaîos) m (feminine ἰωβηλαίᾱ, neuter ἰωβηλαῖον); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἰώβηλος (iṓbēlos, “jubilee”) + -αῖος (-aîos),^[1] and the noun is from Biblical Hebrew יוֹבֵל (yōḇēl).^[1] The Hebrew word meant the ram's horn or trumpet: Πάπυρος explains that the last year of every fifty was announced with a trumpet blast.^[2][3]

Latin borrowed it, probably through Greek, as iōbēlaeus.^[3][4] There, according to the New Pauly, it was influenced by the native verb iūbilō (“to shout”), which gave the form iūbilaeum.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Hellenistic word.^[4] It names the Jewish jubilee, the year of remission that came at the end of every fifty years.^[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means “of the jubilee”; as a noun (ὁ ἰωβηλαῖος, the same as ἰώβηλος (iṓbēlos)) it is the jubilee year itself.^[1][5] The plural Ἰωβηλαῖα was the title of an apocryphal book of the Old Testament, the Book of Jubilees.^[2]

The Byzantine lexicon of Zonaras explains the word as a month so named and honoured among the Jews, and adds that their fallow year came every seventh year, as the Sabbath came every seventh day.^[6]

Modern Greek ιωβηλαίο (iovilaío) is a learned revival: it is used of the ancient Hebrew jubilee and of the Catholic jubilee of remission, and, through French jubilé, of any 25th, 50th or 100th anniversary.^[4][7][2]

Timeline

• Hellenistic period – The word for the Jewish jubilee year is coined from Hebrew.^[4][1]
• 12th–13th century – Zonaras's lexicon explains it as a month honoured among the Jews.^[6]
• Modern Greek – The learned ιωβηλαίο (iovilaío) names the Hebrew and Catholic jubilee and, after French, any great anniversary.^[4][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Koine) Of the jubilee.^[1]

Noun

1. (Koine) The Jewish jubilee year, the year of remission at the end of every fifty years.^[5][2][6]

Related words

• ἰώβηλος (iṓbēlos)
• Latin iōbēlaeus
• Modern Greek ιωβηλαίο (iovilaío)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
3. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
5. ^ a b c Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
7. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens