ὁμογενής

Forms

ὁμογενής (homogenḗs) m or f (neuter ὁμογενές); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “same”) + -γενής (-genḗs, “of a kind”),^[1][2] the second part being from γένος (génos, “race, birth”).^[3][4][2] Babiniotis compares συγγενής (sungenḗs, “akin”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the 5th century BC: Euripides uses it of kinsmen and calls bloodshed within a family ὁμογενῆ μιάσματα, “kindred pollution”, and Democritus applies it to animals of the same kind.^[5][3][6][2]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy it is a word of kinship: as a masculine noun it means a kinsman, and Sophocles uses it of Oedipus, who begot children with his own mother.^[3][5] Polybius uses the neuter for the common ancestry of two peoples.^[3] Aristotle made it a technical term for animals of the same genus and, more generally, for things of the same kind, the opposite of ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs).^[5][3]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it as a noun for people of the same race or nation.^[7] In Modern Greek ομογενής (omogenís) still means “of the same descent”, and as a noun it names a person of Greek descent living abroad; in physics and chemistry it means “homogeneous”, a semantic loan from French homogène, which itself goes back through Medieval Latin to the Greek word.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of kinsmen and of bloodshed within a family.^[5][3][6]
• 5th century BC – Democritus applies it to animals of the same kind.^[5][2][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of people of the same family.^[5][4][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of animals of the same genus and of things of the same kind.^[5][3][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the neuter for common ancestry.^[3][6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for people of the same race or nation.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The noun names Greeks living abroad, and the adjective also means “homogeneous”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the same race or family, related by birth; as a noun, a kinsman.^[5][3]
2. Arising within a family: kindred (of blood-guilt).^[5][3]
3. Of the same species or genus; generally, of the same kind.^[5][3]
4. As a neuter noun: common ancestry.^[3]
5. Jointly engendering children (of Oedipus with his mother).^[3][5]

Related words

• ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs)
• συγγενής (sungenḗs)
• French homogène

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki