ῥητορική

Forms

ῥητορῐκή (rhētorikḗ) f (genitive ῥητορῐκῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an ellipsis from Ancient Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “of an orator”), its feminine used as a noun for ῥητορικὴ τέχνη (rhētorikḗ tékhnē, “the orator's art”).^[1][2][3] The adjective is from Ancient Greek ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr, “public speaker, orator”).^[4][3] Etymonline relates the noun to ῥῆμα (rhêma, “word”) and ῥῆσις (rhêsis, “speech”), and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *were- (“to speak”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plato, in the Gorgias and the Phaedrus, as the name of the art of speaking.^[5][2][6] The New Pauly notes that the full phrase ῥητορικὴ τέχνη (rhētorikḗ tékhnē) is the general term, and that the single word is the technical term from Plato onwards.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Plato, Aristotle and later Plutarch use it for the art of rhetoric; the neuter ῥητορικόν (rhētorikón) had the same sense.^[6][2] Many handbooks were called Tékhnē rhētorikḗ, from one by Callippus of Athens, whom Aristotle mentions, to that of Minucianus in the 3rd century AD.^[8]

It was borrowed as Latin rhētorica and rhētoricē, and English rhetoric came from Old French and directly from Latin in the early 14th century.^[1][9][3] Medieval vernacular Greek kept ρητορική (ritorikí) for the art of persuasive speech.^[10] In Modern Greek ρητορική (ritorikí) is a learned word for rhetoric, its rules, and a body of speeches.^[11]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato makes it the name of the art in the Gorgias and the Phaedrus.^[5][2][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle and Aeschines use it.^[5][6]
• 1st century BC – Philodemus discusses it in his work on rhetoric.^[2]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for the art of rhetoric.^[6]
• 3rd century AD – Minucianus writes a handbook called Tékhnē rhētorikḗ.^[8]
• 1100–1669 – Kriaras records it in vernacular texts for the art of persuasive speech.^[10]
• Early 14th century – English borrows rhetoric from Old French and Latin.^[3]
• Modern Greek – ρητορική (ritorikí) is used as a learned word.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rhetoric, the art of oratory and persuasive speaking.^[2][6][1]

Related words

• ῥητορικός (rhētorikós)
• ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr)
• Latin rhētorica
• English rhetoric

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Smith, William, ed. (1873), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki