ὑπόκρισις

Forms

ῠ̔πόκρῐσῐς (hupókrisis) f (genitive ῠ̔ποκρῐ́σεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “to answer; to play a part”) + -σις (-sis).^[1][2][3] The verb is made of ὑπό (hupó, “under”) and the middle of κρίνω (krínō, “to sift, decide”), which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to sieve”).^[4]

Spicq argues that the verb first meant “to answer”, that is, to give a reply drawn out of one's own mind, and so came to mean interpreting a dream or an oracle, then delivering the lines of a play, and finally pretending.^[5] The noun followed the same path, from “answer” to “stage acting” and “hypocrisy”.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest text that has it is a fragment of Phocylides, which LSJ cites for the figurative sense of play-acting or pretence.^[6][7] In Herodotus it is an answer or reply, given by a person or by an oracle, while the Attic word for that was ἀπόκρισις (apókrisis).^[6][8][5]

Semantic evolution

In Attic Greek the noun belonged to the theatre: it was the acting of a part on the stage.^[6][2] Aristotle uses it in the Rhetoric for an orator's delivery, his voice and manner, and contrasts orators who rely on delivery with authors of written speeches.^[6][8] Polybius applies it to the expression of a person reading aloud.^[8] Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for the interpretation of a dream, and Porphyry for the tone of a hunting dog's bark, by which the hunter can tell whether it is still searching or has found the hare.^[8][6]

The bad sense, “play-acting, pretence”, is in Polybius, the Septuagint (2 Maccabees) and Lucian.^[6][9] In the New Testament it has only this sense, outward show at odds with one's real purposes, as in the Gospel of Matthew.^[2][6] Coptic borrowed the word as ϩⲩⲡⲟⲕⲣⲓⲥⲓⲥ (hupokrisis), first in a manuscript of about AD 300.^[10]

Late Latin took it as Latin hypocrisis, which passed through Old French into English as hypocrisy.^[4] In Modern Greek the learned υπόκριση (ypókrisi) is the actor's art on the stage.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – A fragment of Phocylides uses it for play-acting or pretence.^[6][7][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for an answer, including the reply of an oracle.^[6][5][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the acting of a part and for an orator's delivery.^[6][8][12]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for pretence and for expressive reading aloud.^[6][8][12]
• About AD 300 – A Coptic manuscript has the borrowed word, the first dated record of it.^[10]
• About 1200 – English borrows it as ipocrisie, through Old French and Late Latin.^[4]
• Modern Greek – The learned υπόκριση (ypókrisi) means stage acting.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ionic) A reply or answer, given by a person or an oracle.^[6][8]
2. The interpretation of a dream.^[8]
3. The playing of a part on the stage, acting.^[6][8]
4. An orator's delivery; the expression of someone reading aloud.^[6][8]
5. The tone or manner of an animal's cry.^[6]
6. (figurative) Play-acting, pretence, hypocrisy; in the New Testament only in this sense.^[6][8][2]
7. In the accusative as an adverb, in the manner of: Pindar has it with the genitive of a dolphin.^[6][8]

Related words

• ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs)
• ἀπόκρισις (apókrisis)
• κρίσις (krísis)
• Latin hypocrisis
• English hypocrisy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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
3. ^ Strong, James (1890), A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament, in The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, New York: Hunt & Eaton
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge