ἱστορία

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /his.to.rí.aː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /is.toˈri.a/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /is.toˈri.a/^[1]

Forms

ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (historíā) f (genitive ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formally derived from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “one who knows, expert; witness”), but was associated in use with the verb ἱστορέω (historéō, “to inquire, find out”).^[2][1] Ἵστωρ is from *wid-tōr, an agent noun of οἶδα (oîda, “I know”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”);^[2] Boeotian has ϝίστωρ (wístōr), and the rough breathing is probably not original.^[2]

The words ἱστορέω (historéō) and ἱστορίη (historíē) arose in Ionic and spread over the Greek world together with Ionian science and philosophy.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded uses are in Heraclitus and in the opening sentence of Herodotus, for inquiry.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Herodotus, Euripides and Plato it is inquiry and investigation.^[4] Isocrates, Plato and the orators used it for the knowledge that inquiry gives.^[4] Aristotle, Polybius and Plutarch used it for a written account of inquiries, a historical narrative, history, and Callimachus for a story.^[4]

Latin borrowed it as historia.^[5][1] Medieval Greek kept the word,^[6] and Modern Greek ιστορία is history; its sense “story, affair” is a semantic loan from French histoire.^[7]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus uses it.^[3][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for inquiry, in his opening sentence.^[3][4][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates and Plato use it for knowledge.^[4][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a historical account.^[4][8]
• 3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it for a story.^[4][8]
• Modern Greek – ιστορία means history and story.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Inquiry, investigation, systematic observation.^[4][1]
2. Knowledge obtained by inquiry, information.^[4]
3. A written account of inquiries, a narrative, history.^[4]
4. A story.^[4]

Word family

• ἱστορικός (historikós)
• ἱστοριογράφος (historiográphos)
• ἱστοριαγράφος (historiagráphos)
• ἱστορικόν (historikón)

Related words

• Latin historia
• English history

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge