Ἰταλικός

Forms

Ἰταλικός (Italikós), with long ⟨ι⟩ and short ⟨α⟩ (Ῑτᾰλικός), feminine Ἰταλική, neuter Ἰταλικόν; a special feminine is Ἰταλίς.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek Ἰταλία (Italía, “Italy”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato is the first to use it, in the Gorgias and the Laws, meaning Italian.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle uses the masculine plural for the Italian philosophers, the followers of Pythagoras, and later writers call Pythagorean philosophy the Italian school.^[6][2] An inscription of 97/96 BC uses Ἰταλικοί for the Italians living on Delos.^[7][1] In the New Testament, Acts names the Italian cohort, a unit made up of Italian rather than provincial soldiers.^[7][8] The feminine used as a noun could mean Italy itself or, collectively, the Italians.^[2] Coptic borrowed the word, with manuscripts from about AD 400.^[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for the Italian language and, as a noun, for the Italians.^[10] Modern Greek ιταλικός (italikós) means Italian, and its feminine and neuter plural name the Italian language.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it to mean Italian.^[1][6][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle calls the Pythagoreans the Italians.^[6][5]
• 1st century BC – An inscription of 97/96 BC names the Italians living on Delos.^[7][1]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles speak of the Italian cohort.^[7][1][8]
• 5th century AD – Coptic manuscripts from about AD 400 record the borrowed word.^[9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for the Italian language and for the Italians.^[10]
• Modern Greek – ιταλικός (italikós) means Italian.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Italian, of or relating to Italy.^[1][6]
2. Italic, Pythagorean, of the philosophy of the Italian school.^[2][1]
3. (masculine plural as noun) The Italians; the followers of Pythagoras.^[6][1]
4. (feminine as noun) Italy; the Italians collectively; the Italic philosophy.^[2]

Related words

• Ἰταλία (Italía)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
4. ^ Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
8. ^ a b Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens