Etymologically
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ἱστορία

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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)

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