σκοπός Ancient Greek · revision 2292

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /skoˈpos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /skoˈpos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''σκοπός''' (skopós) ''m'' (genitive σκοποῦ); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from the root of [[σκέπτομαι|tr=sképtomai|t=to look at, consider]], in its o-grade, [[der|ine-pro|*speḱ-|t=to look, spy]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010)^(Etymonline) σκέπτομαι goes back to *σπέκ-ομαι with metathesis, and matches [[la|speciō]] and [[sa|पश्यति|tr=páśyati|t=sees]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ Beekes notes that the old root noun “spy”, as in [[sa|स्पश्|tr=spáś-]] and the second part of [[la|haruspex]], is not found in Greek and seems to have been replaced by σκοπός; the Homeric phrase “the Sun, watcher of gods and men” matches a Vedic formula calling the sun a spy.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it for a lookout posted on a height, a spy sent to watch the enemy, an umpire watching a race, and a mark aimed at.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the ''Odyssey'' an archer aims at “another mark, which no man has yet hit”, and to speak “away from the mark” is to speak wide of the point, a phrase Plato and Xenophon keep.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940) Pindar calls gods and kings watchers and guardians of their lands, and Aeschylus calls Zeus the watcher on high.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Sophocles uses it for the guard who sees an edict carried out.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ From Plato on it is above all the aim or goal one fixes one's eye on: the goal by which one should live, pleasure as the right aim of all creatures.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Polybius and Plutarch use it in that sense.^(CGL 2021)

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+ In Modern Greek [[m|el|σκοπός|tr=skopós]] means “aim, purpose”, a sentry, and, after Italian motivo, a tune.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) English [[m|en|scope]] comes from it through Latin scopus and Italian scopo.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – a lookout, a spy, and a mark to shoot at.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Homeric Hymn to Demeter – the Sun as watcher of gods and men.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls gods and kings guardians of their lands.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the aim of life.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1530s – English ''scope''.^(Etymonline)

+ * Modern Greek – σκοπός “aim; sentry; tune”.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A watcher, [[m|en|lookout]], one posted on a height to watch.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|spy]], scout.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A guardian, protector; an overseer.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A mark, [[m|en|target]]; ἀπὸ σκοποῦ, wide of the mark.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # An aim, goal, [[m|en|purpose]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἄσκοπος|tr=áskopos]]

+ * [[σκοπιά|tr=skopiā́]]

+ * [[σκοπέω|tr=skopéō]]

+ * [[ἐπίσκοπος|tr=epískopos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[σκέπτομαι|tr=sképtomai]]

+ * [[en|scope]]

+ * [[en|horoscope]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}