ὑπερβολή

Forms

ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ) f (genitive ὑπερβολῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a verbal noun from Ancient Greek ὑπερβάλλω (huperbállō, “to throw beyond, go beyond, exceed”), formed with the suffix -η (-ē).^[1][2][3] The verb is made of ὑπέρ (hupér, “over, beyond”) and βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus (5th century BC) uses it for a putting off, a delay of trouble.^[5][2][3] In the same century Euripides and Thucydides use it for superiority and excess.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Literally it was a throwing or going beyond, so a crossing over a mountain, and in Xenophon and Polybius a mountain pass.^[5][2] From “going beyond” came superiority over others and, above all, excess, the opposite of deficiency (Plato's ἔλλειψις (élleipsis) and ἔνδεια (éndeia)); many adverbial phrases meant “extremely” or “beyond measure”.^[5][2] In the orators it is extravagant language, and Aristotle treats it as a figure of speech, hyperbole.^[5][2] In geometry Apollonius of Perga gave it the sense “hyperbola”, the curve whose figure “exceeds” its base.^[5]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament it is an extraordinary degree, and καθ’ ὑπερβολήν means “beyond measure”.^[7][3][8] It was borrowed into Latin as hyperbolē.^[9] Modern Greek υπερβολή (ypervolí) continues the ancient word, “exaggeration, excess”, while its mathematical sense is Hellenistic.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a delay.^[5][2][3]
• 5th century BC – Euripides and Thucydides use it for superiority and excess.^[5][2][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato sets excess against deficiency, and Xenophon uses it for a crossing of mountains.^[5][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle treats it as a figure of speech, hyperbole.^[5][2]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – Apollonius of Perga uses it for the hyperbola.^[5][11]
• 1st century AD – In the New Testament it means an extraordinary degree.^[3][8]
• Modern Greek – υπερβολή (ypervolí) means exaggeration and the hyperbola.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A throwing beyond others.^[5] (astronomy) The altitude of a star.^[5]
2. A crossing over (a mountain); a mountain pass.^[5][2]
3. Superiority, the going beyond others.^[5][2]
4. Excess, extravagance, the opposite of deficiency; with prepositions (εἰς, καθ’, πρὸς ὑπερβολήν) “extremely, beyond measure”.^[5][2][3]
5. (rhetoric) Extravagant language, exaggeration; the figure of speech hyperbole.^[5][2]
6. (geometry) A hyperbola.^[5]
7. A putting off, delay.^[5][2]

Related words

• ὑπερβάλλω (huperbállō)
• ὑπερβολικός (huperbolikós)
• παραβολή (parabolḗ)
• ἔλλειψις (élleipsis)
• Latin hyperbolē
• English hyperbole
• English hyperbola

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 k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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
4. ^ Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge