ὁρίζων

Forms

ὁρῐ́ζων (horízōn) m (genitive ὁρῐ́ζοντος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ὁρίζω (horízō, “to bound, mark out a boundary”), its present participle being used as a noun for ὁρίζων κύκλος (horízōn kúklos, “bounding circle”).^[1][2][3] The verb is from ὅρος (hóros, “boundary”), which Beekes connects with Latin urvāre (“to mark out a boundary with a furrow”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the 4th century BC in Aristotle and the astronomer Autolycus, as the circle that separates the visible half of the sky from the invisible, the horizon.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Greek astronomy the word was a technical term, often with κύκλος (kúklos) added.^[2][6] Geminus distinguished the horizon seen by the eye from the one grasped by reason.^[2][6] The Pythagoreans called the number nine by this name, because it closes the series of units.^[2]

In medieval Greek it also meant the field of view.^[7][8] Modern Greek ορίζοντας (orízontas) is a learned form built on the accusative; its figurative senses follow French horizon.^[9] Through Latin horizon the word passed into many languages.^[10][8] The English word horizon came by way of Old French in the late 14th century, and Modern Greek οριζόντιος (orizóntios, “horizontal”) (1766) is modelled on French horizontal.^[10][11][8]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle and Autolycus use it for the horizon.^[2][5]
• 1st century BC – Geminus distinguishes the visible horizon from the theoretical one.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The treatise of Timaeus of Locri uses it with or without “circle”.^[2][6]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval texts use it for the field of view.^[7]
• Late 14th century – English borrows horizon through Old French and Latin.^[11]
• 1766 – Modern Greek forms οριζόντιος (orizóntios) after French horizontal.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The horizon, the circle that bounds the visible sky.^[2][12]
2. (Pythagorean) A name for the number nine, which closes the series of units.^[2]
3. (Byzantine) The field of view.^[7]

Related words

• ὁρίζω (horízō)
• ὅρος (hóros)
• κύκλος (kúklos)
• Latin horizon
• English horizon

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli