ἵστωρ

Forms

ῐ̔́στωρ (hístōr) m (genitive ῐ̔́στορος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wístōr,^[1] from *wid-tōr, an agent noun of the verb οἶδα (oîda, “I know”), plural ἴσμεν (ísmen).^[2] Wiktionary reconstructs *wéydtōr (“knower, wise person”), from *weyd- (“to see”).^[1] The Boeotian form ϝίστωρ (wístōr) keeps the initial /w/.^[3] The rough breathing is probably not original.^[2] Floyd's attempt to derive it from ἵζω (hízō, “to sit”), as “convenor”, has not succeeded.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad its sense is unclear: two men in a dispute go before an ἵστωρ for a decision (18.501), and in another quarrel Agamemnon is proposed as the ἵστωρ (23.486); it may be a witness or an arbitrator.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means knowing, learned (Hesiod), and with a genitive skilled in something, as the Muses in song in a Homeric hymn or a hero in spears in Bacchylides.^[3][4] Sophocles and Euripides use it for being aware of something.^[3][4] As a noun it is a witness in Boeotian inscriptions, in the Hippocratic Oath, which calls all the gods as witnesses, and in the oath of the Athenian ephebes.^[3][2][4]

Its derivatives ἱστορέω (historéō) and ἱστορία (historíā) arose in Ionic and spread over the Greek world with Ionic science and philosophy.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of a judge or witness in a dispute (18.501).^[3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it as an adjective, “knowing” (Works and Days 792).^[3][5]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Oath calls all the gods as witnesses.^[3][5]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for being aware of something (Electra 850).^[3][5]
• 4th century BC – Lycurgus quotes an oath that uses it for a witness.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who knows what is right; a judge, arbitrator in a dispute.^[3][4]
2. A witness.^[4][3]

Adjective

1. Knowing, learned, wise; aware of something.^[3][4]
2. Skilled in something, expert.^[3][4]

Word family

• ἱστορέω (historéō)
• ἱστορία (historíā)

Related words

• οἶδα (oîda)
• English history

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge