νόστος Ancient Greek · revision 2225

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *nes-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /nós.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈnos.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈnos.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''νόστος''' (nóstos) ''m'' (genitive νόστου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*nóstos]],^(Wiktionary) a noun in -τος with the o-grade of the root of [[νέομαι|tr=néomai|t=to return home]], Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*nes-|t=to return home safely]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος) It shows that νέομαι stands for *νέσ-ομαι.^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ The verb corresponds to Gothic [[m|got|𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽|tr=ganisan|t=to recover, be saved]] and Old English [[m|ang|genesan|t=to escape, survive]], and in form to Sanskrit [[m|sa|नसते|tr=násate|t=approaches, unites]]; with them go the causatives Gothic [[m|got|𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=nasjan|t=to save]] and Old High German [[m|goh|nerian|t=to save, heal, nourish]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(LIV 2001) The name [[Νέστωρ|tr=Néstōr]] belongs to the same root.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is a word of epic, and above all of the ''Odyssey'': the “sweet return” home and the return of the Achaeans.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021) The ''Iliad'' uses it for going back to the ships, and the ''Odyssey'' also for reaching a place, as the land of the Phaeacians.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In tragedy it is the return from war and the return to one's fatherland, in Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and more generally a journey: in Sophocles Philoctetes goes on a “journey” in search of food.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The ''Nostoi'' were epic poems of the Trojan Cycle on the returns of the Greek heroes from Troy.^(LSJ 1940)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ A different sense, the yield of grain when ground, is reported by the grammarian Trypho, and Hesychius glosses it as the giving out of taste; from it [[νόστιμος|tr=nóstimos]] came to mean “nourishing” and in Modern Greek “tasty”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Hesychius)^(Frisk 1960)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ Modern Greek [[m|el|νόστος|tr=nóstos]] is a learned, emotional word for the return to one's homeland after a long absence, with reference to the return of Odysseus to Ithaca.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) English ''nostalgia'' was formed from it and [[ἄλγος|tr=álgos]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it for the return home.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the plural for the returns from war.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for a journey in search of food.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century AD – Pausanias cites the ''Nostoi'' among the epics of the Trojan Cycle.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for homecoming.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|homecoming]], the return home.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A return to a place.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A journey; arrival at a place.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(plural)'' Νόστοι, the returns of the heroes from Troy, as a title of epic poems.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The yield of grain when ground; taste.^(LSJ 1940)^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἄνοστος|tr=ánostos]]

+ * [[ἀπονοστέω|tr=aponostéō]]

+ * [[νοστέω|tr=nostéō]]

+ * [[νόστιμος|tr=nóstimos]]

+ * [[περινοστέω|tr=perinostéō]]

+ * [[ὑπονοστέω|tr=huponostéō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[νέομαι|tr=néomai]]

+ * [[Νέστωρ|tr=Néstōr]]

+ * [[en|nostalgia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}