ὑποθετικός

Forms

ῠ̔ποθετῐκός (hupothetikós) m (feminine ῠ̔ποθετῐκή, neuter ῠ̔ποθετῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis, “proposal, supposition”) + -ικός (-ikós),^[1] the adjective of the noun of ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi, “to put under, suggest, suppose”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest record may be the adverb in Demetrius' On Style, of uncertain date (the 3rd to the 1st century BC), meaning “by way of suggestion”.^[4][5] In the 1st century AD Musonius Rufus calls speeches hortatory.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In logic it meant hypothetical: Epictetus, in Arrian's record of his discourses, speaks of hypothetical arguments, the Stoics distinguished it from ἐκθετικός (ekthetikós), and Galen and Sextus Empiricus use the adverb “hypothetically”.^[4][2] A scholion on Polybius uses it for what concerns the subject of a work.^[4][2]

Modern Greek υποθετικός (ipothetikós) is a learned form of the Hellenistic word; in its general sense “hypothetical, assumed” it follows French hypothétique.^[6] Grammar uses it for conditional clauses and the conjunctions that introduce them.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 3rd–1st century BC (uncertain) – Demetrius' On Style uses the adverb for “by way of suggestion”.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – Musonius Rufus uses it of hortatory speeches.^[4][5]
• 2nd century AD – Arrian's record of Epictetus speaks of hypothetical arguments, and Galen uses the adverb.^[4][5]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus uses the adverb “hypothetically”.^[4][5]
• Modern Greek – The learned υποθετικός (ipothetikós) means “hypothetical” and, in grammar, “conditional”.^[6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (logic) Hypothetical, resting on a supposition.^[4][2][7]
2. Concerning the subject of a work.^[4][2]
3. Suggestive, hortatory; adverb, by way of suggestion.^[4][2]

Related words

• ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis)
• ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli