Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 2nd century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs) + -ικός (-ikós), from the noun for ‘one who acts himself, perpetrator’. αὐθέντης (authéntēs) meant ‘author, perpetrator’ and, in Herodotus…

It is a back-formation from Ancient Greek βηρύλλιον (bērúllion), the form in which the name came into Greek, with the stone itself, from India in the Hellenistic period. That form is from Prakrit…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐκ- (ek-, “out of”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”), “out of the centre”.

It is formed from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos, “Jew, Judaean”) + -ισμός (-ismós). Bailly, Abbott-Smith and Strong derive it from the verb ἰουδαΐζω (ioudaḯzō, “to live as a Jew”), itself formed…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone”) + -άζω (-ázō), a verbal suffix. Bailly derives it from μονάς (monás, “unit”). Beekes derives μόνος (mónos) from Proto-Greek *mónwos, perhaps…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πάροικος (pároikos, “dwelling beside; resident alien”) + -ία, the abstract suffix (or its verb παροικέω (paroikéō, “to dwell beside, to sojourn”)). The base is a…

A compound, from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriā́) + -άρχης (-árkhēs): the head (from ἄρχω (árkhō), “to lead, rule”) of a πατριά (patriā́), a clan or line of descent. That noun itself goes back to…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πειράω (peiráō) + -τής (-tēs), an agent noun from the verb ‘to attempt, put to the test’, which could also mean ‘to make an attempt on, attack’. Babiniotis compares…

It is derived from the name of the philosopher from Ancient Greek Πλάτων (Plátōn) with the adjective suffix -ικός (-ikós). The name itself is a nickname, which ancient tradition linked with πλατύς…

It is a noun from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “prophet, interpreter of a god”) + -ία (-íā).

It is formed from Ancient Greek σύγχρονος (súnkhronos, “contemporary, of the same time”) + -ίζω (-ízō). The adjective is a compound of σύν (sún, “with”) and χρόνος (khrónos, “time”).

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן (ʾāmēn, “surely; so be it”), a solemn formula of assent. Abbott-Smith and Thayer explain the Hebrew word as a verbal adjective “firm”, from a root meaning…

It is formed as if from an adjective “forgetful”, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) + μιμνήσκω (mimnḗskō) + -ία (-íā) “to remind”. Babiniotis derives it from the privative ἀ- and the stem of μνήμη (mnḗmē)…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “instead of”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”) + -ία (-ía): a word used instead of a name or noun. The second member is the dialect form of ὄνομα (ónoma), and its…

It is from Ancient Greek ἄσυλος (ásulos, “inviolable, safe from seizure”), its neuter, used as a noun. The adjective is the privative prefix with the stem of συλάω (sūláō, “to strip, plunder”) and…

It is formed from Ancient Greek δι- (di-, “two”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”): “having two sounds”.

It is from Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos, “ebony”) + -ινος (-inos), an adjective of material. Beekes derives ἔβενος (ébenos) from hbnj (“ebony”), perhaps ultimately a Nubian word.

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos, “people, nation”) + -ικός (-ikós), like γενικός (genikós) from γένος (génos). The origin of ἔθνος (éthnos) itself is unclear.

It is from Ancient Greek κώνωψ (kṓnōps), “mosquito, gnat”, with the suffix -εῖον (-eîon) that forms names of places and objects: a thing “for mosquitoes”. Beekes, following Frisk, thinks that the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúrā, “lyre”) + -ικός (-ikós), so “of the lyre”.

It is formed from Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ικός (-ikós). μεταβολή is the noun of μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change”).

It is the abstract noun from Ancient Greek μισογύνης (mīsogúnēs, “woman-hater”) + -ία (-íā). Wiktionary and Πάπυρος derive it from the adjective μισόγυνος (mīsógunos, “hating women”) instead. Both…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone, only”) + -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruler”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule, to lead”). It is a later variant of the older μόναρχος (mónarkhos), with the…

Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek. It matches Latin rādīx “root” in form if both go back to Proto-Indo-European *wrād-, and Latin rāmus “branch, twig” is closer in sense; but the related…

It is from Ancient Greek ῥίς (rhī́s, “nose”) + κέρας (kéras, “horn”): “nose-horn”.

The origin is unexplained. Beekes suggests that it is Pre-Greek. Osthoff connected it with Latin rūmex (“sorrel”), and Krogmann thought that the Greek word and Latin rūta were borrowed separately…

It is formed with the adjective suffix -εῖος (-eîos) from Ancient Greek σπονδή (spondḗ, “libation”). The metrical foot was so called because this rhythm was used in the songs that went with…

It is formed from Ancient Greek σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to bind tight”) + -τήρ (-tḗr), with the suffix of agent nouns: “that which binds tight”. The origin of σφίγγω (sphíngō) is unknown. Chantraine takes…

A compound from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos) + -γραφία (-graphía), “place” and “writing, description”, the second part from γράφω (gráphō, “to write, draw”). Some Modern Greek dictionaries derive it…