Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 4th century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek κλίνω (klī́nō, “to slope, incline”) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result from the verb's stem, so first “an inclination, a slope”. The verb belongs to the Indo-European root…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κοιμάω (koimáō, “to put to sleep”) + -τήριον (-tḗrion), the suffix of nouns of place, so “a place for sleeping”. BDAG refers to Chantraine's article on κεῖμαι…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “order; world”) + -ικός (-ikós). Beekes reconstructs the noun as Proto-Indo-European *ḱóns-mo- and connects it with Latin cēnseō (“to assess”) and the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κρύπτω (krúptō, “to hide”) + -τικός (-tikós). Beekes notes that κρύπτω (krúptō) has no good Indo-European etymology and may be Pre-Greek. It recalls καλύπτω (kalúptō…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle, wheel”) + -ικός (-ikós). Chantraine lists it among the derivatives of the noun, with the sense “of the circle”. The base noun is the old…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κῶμος (kômos, “revel, festive procession”) + -ικός (-ikós). LSJ calls it a later form of κωμῳδικός (kōmōidikós), from κωμῳδία (kōmōidía, “comedy”). The origin of the…

Beekes calls it a foreign word without an etymology, perhaps Illyrian. Chantraine likewise finds no etymology and thinks it may be a borrowing. Pokorny takes the supposed Illyrian word for a light…

It is an oriental loanword, mostly taken to be borrowed from Middle Persian marvārīt (“pearl”), as Schiffer proposed, whence Persian مروارید (marvârid). Brust discusses this view critically…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great”) + ψυχή (psūkhḗ, “soul, spirit”), “having a great soul”.

It is formed from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure; metre”) + -ικός (-ikós). Latin borrowed it as metricus.

It is a Semitic loanword, according to Beekes from Phoenician. Related forms are Biblical Hebrew נֵרְדְּ (nērd), Aramaic נִרְדָּא (nirdā) and Akkadian lardu; Chantraine adds that the Akkadian word…

It is formed from Ancient Greek νομάς (nomás, “roaming for pasture; nomad”) + -ικός (-ikós). The noun comes from νομή (nomḗ, “pasture”) or νομός (nomós, “pasture”), derivatives of νέμω (némō, “to…

It is a diminutive from Ancient Greek ὀπός (opós, “plant juice”) + -ιον (-ion). Ὀπός, with Ionic loss of the rough breathing, is from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷo- (“juice, resin”). Ὀπός is cognate…

It is formed with the suffix -ικός (-ikós) on the verbal adjective from Ancient Greek ὀπτός (optós, “seen, visible”), according to Babiniotis and Etymonline. Wiktionary connects it instead with ὄψις…

It is from Ancient Greek ὁρίζω (horízō, “to bound, mark out a boundary”), its present participle being used as a noun for ὁρίζων κύκλος (horízōn kúklos, “bounding circle”). The verb is from ὅρος…

A compound from Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs) + κρέας (kréas, “meat”), with the first member in the form παν- (pan-), assimilated to παγ- (pag-) before /k/: literally “all flesh”. Babiniotis suggests the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek παθ- (path-) + -τικός (-tikós), from the stem of πάσχω (páskhō, “to suffer, undergo”) seen in the aorist παθεῖν (patheîn). Etymonline and Πάπυρος derive it more…

It is the neuter of the adjective from Ancient Greek πάνθειος (pántheios, “of or common to all gods”), used as a noun with the word for “temple” understood. The adjective is formed from Ancient…

A loanword of unknown origin. The plant came from Egypt, and the usual guess is an Egyptian source, a phrase meaning "that of the king" (as if papyrus were a royal monopoly), but no such Egyptian…

From the verb from Ancient Greek παραλύω (paralúō) + -σις (-sis), “to loosen, disable”, with the suffix of action nouns. The verb is made of παρά (pará) and λύω (lúō), “to loosen”, and the noun was…

It is from Ancient Greek πέλεκυς (pélekus, “axe”), because the bird's bill resembles an axe in shape or use. The suffix -άν is that of ethnic names such as Ἀκαρνάν, and Beekes counts it among the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πλεονάζω (pleonázō, “to be more than enough, be superfluous”) + -μός (-mós).

It is from Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “wind, breath, spirit”) + -ικός (-ikós), built on the stem πνευματ- (pneumat-).

It is formed from Ancient Greek προγράφω (prográphō, “to give public notice in writing”) + -μα (-ma). Babiniotis compares γράμμα (grámma) beside γράφω (gráphō).

It is formed from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “competitor, actor”), literally “first competitor”. Babiniotis takes it as a back-formation from the verb…

Beekes considers it a loanword from Italy, where the tree is at home, rather than from Asia Minor or Greece. He rejects Scardigli's derivation from Asia Minor (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European…

The origin is unknown. Beekes suggests that, given its non-Indo-European structure, it may be Pre-Greek, like σαύρα (saúra, “lizard”). A connection with σαλάμβη (salámbē) “chimney” is unlikely.

It is certainly related to a Semitic word, probably borrowed from Biblical Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappîr) or a similar West Semitic form. Wiktionary traces this further to Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis…

It is formed with a suffix from Ancient Greek σάρδα (sárda, “salted fish”), the name of a salted or pickled fish. Beekes and Frisk take it to be originally “the Sardinian fish”, named after the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “to indicate, signify”) + -ικός (-ikós), the adjective of the verb.

It is from Ancient Greek σποράς (sporás) + -ικός (-ikós), “scattered”. The noun σποράς (sporás) is built on the o-grade of the root of σπείρω (speírō) “to sow”, with the suffix -αδ-.

It is formed from Ancient Greek συμπαθής (sumpathḗs, “affected by the same feelings”) + -ια (-ia). The adjective is formed from σύν (sún, “with”) and πάθος (páthos, “feeling, suffering”).

It is formed with the suffix -ία (-íā) from Ancient Greek συνεργός (sunergós, “working together, helping”). The adjective is a compound of σύν (sún) “with” and ἔργον (érgon) “work”.

It is the neuter, used as a noun, from Ancient Greek συνώνυμος (sunṓnumos) “having the same name”. The adjective is formed from συν- (sun-) and ὄνυμα (ónuma), the Aeolic and Doric form of ὄνομα…

It is formed from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, sphere”) + -ικός (-ikós).

It is the feminine, used as a noun with τέχνη (tékhnē) “art” understood, from Ancient Greek τακτικός (taktikós) “fit for arranging, especially in war”. The adjective is formed from τάσσω (tássō) “to…

It is an abstract noun in -της (-tēs) formed from Ancient Greek ταὐτό (tautó, “the same”), which is the crasis of τό (tó) and αὐτό (autó). Beekes and Chantraine treat it among the derivatives of…

It is from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “tension, pitch, accent”) + -ικός (-ikós). Etymonline traces τόνος (tónos) to Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).

A compound from Ancient Greek ὑδρο- (hudro-) + -φοβία (-phobía), “water” and “fear”. Bailly derives it from the adjective from Ancient Greek ὑδροφόβος (hudrophóbos, “dreading water”).

It is from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs, “actor”) + -ικός (-ikós). The noun ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs) is from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai).

It is a noun of quality formed from Ancient Greek φιλόσοφος (philósophos, “lover of wisdom”) + -ία (-íā). The adjective is a compound of φίλος (phílos, “dear, loving”) and σοφός (sophós, “skilled…

It is from Ancient Greek φυσικός (phusikós, “natural, of nature”), its feminine, used as a noun with a word for “science” or “study” understood, as in Aristotle's full phrase “the natural ἐπιστήμη…

It is from Ancient Greek χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + λέων (léōn, “lion”): “ground lion”. Wiktionary takes it to be ultimately a calque of Akkadian nēšu ša qaqqari (“chameleon, reptile”)…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “breath, soul”) + -ικός (-ikós). The noun ψυχή (psukhḗ) can be analysed as ψύχω (psúkhō, “to blow”) with a suffix, so that its first meaning would have…