ἔργον Ancient Greek · revision 2351

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈer.ɣon/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ἔργον''' (érgon) ''n'' (genitive ἔργου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Doric [[ϝέργον|tr=wérgon]], Elean [[ϝάργον|tr=wárgon]], with the old initial /w/.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)

+ [[gmy|we-ka-ta]] /wergatās/ is the plural of the derivative [[ἐργάτης|tr=ergátēs]] “worker”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*wérgon]],^(Wiktionary) [[inh|ine-pro|*wérǵom|t=work]], an old neuter noun.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word is identical with [[ae|varəzəm]], [[goh|werc]] and [[non|verk]], all meaning “work”; [[xcl|գործ|tr=gorc]] has the same formation with a secondary /o/, probably taken from the verb “to work”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) It is also cognate with [[ang|weorc]], the source of [[en|work]].^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ The primary verbs of the same root, [[ine-pro|*werǵ-|t=to do, work]], are [[ἔρδω|tr=érdō]] and [[ῥέζω|tr=rhézō]]; [[ὄργανον|tr=órganon]] and [[ὄργια|tr=órgia]] are further formations from it.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Pokorny 1959)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from the ''Iliad'' on.^(Beekes 2010) In Homer it is a deed or a task, the work in hand, toil, and above all the work of war; in the plural it also means tilled fields and farms, and women's work at the loom.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hesiod named his ''Works and Days'' after it and declared that “work is no disgrace, idleness is a disgrace”.^(LSJ 1940) From Homer on, the deed is set against the word ([[ἔπος|tr=épos]], [[μῦθος|tr=mûthos]]), and Attic writers regularly oppose ''ἔργῳ'' (érgōi) “in fact” to ''λόγῳ'' (lógōi) “in word”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ Classical Greek also used it for a thing or matter, for the proper task or function of someone or something, and in phrases meaning “there is need of” and “it is hard to”.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Concretely it named a piece of handiwork or a building, mine-workings, siege-works (in Polybius) and the profit earned on money.^(CGL 2021)^(Liddell & Scott 1889) The derivative [[ἐργαστήριον|tr=ergastḗrion]] “workshop” is the source of [[la|ergastulum]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ In the Septuagint and the New Testament the works are God's acts of creation and his deeds, and the deeds of people as a sign of their character.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000) Paul speaks of the “works of the law”, and the Letter of James sets works against a faith that is only words.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)^(Abbott-Smith 1922) Medieval vernacular Greek used it for work, deeds, works of art and writing, and God's creation, and it survives as [[el|έργο|tr=érgo]].^(Kriaras)^(Wiktionary) In 1873 the British Association for the Advancement of Science coined the unit of energy [[en|erg]] from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – the Linear B tablets have [[gmy|we-ka-ta]], “workers”, from a derivative.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+ * Homer – the ''Iliad'' uses it for deeds of war, tasks and tilled fields.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's ''Works and Days'' takes its title from the plural.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides uses ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ for “during the action” and calls the Persian War the greatest deed of earlier times.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for the profit on money lent.^(Liddell & Scott 1889)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the plural for siege-works.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – the New Testament contrasts works with faith.^(BDAG 2000)^(Abbott-Smith 1922)

+ * 1873 – the British Association for the Advancement of Science coins English ''erg'' from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A deed, act or [[m|en|achievement]], often opposed to word or speech.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Work in hand, a [[m|en|task]]; especially women's crafts, such as [[m|en|weaving]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The activity of working, [[m|en|labour]].^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # Work of a particular kind, named by a genitive or adjective: the work of fighting, feasting, love or the sea.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(without qualifier)'' [[m|en|battle|alt=Battle]], action in war.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A thing, matter, affair.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # One's proper work or [[m|en|function]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # Need or use; with a negative, “there is no need” or “no point” in doing something.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A hard task; with ἐστί, “it is difficult” to do something.^(CGL 2021)^(Liddell & Scott 1889)

+ # A piece of [[m|en|handiwork]]; a building.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(plural)'' Tilled fields, [[m|en|farmland]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(plural)'' Mine-workings; siege-works.^(CGL 2021)

+ # Income or [[m|en|profit]] on money lent.^(CGL 2021)^(Liddell & Scott 1889)

+ # ''(New Testament)'' A deed as showing someone's moral character; the works of the law.^(BDAG 2000)^(Abbott-Smith 1922)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἀργός|tr=argós]]

+ * [[γεωργός|tr=geōrgós]]

+ * [[ἑκάεργος|tr=hekáergos]]

+ * [[ἐνέργεια|tr=enérgeia]]

+ * [[ἐνεργέω|tr=energéō]]

+ * [[ἐργάζομαι|tr=ergázomai]]

+ * [[ἐργαστήριον|tr=ergastḗrion]]

+ * [[ἐργάτης|tr=ergátēs]]

+ * [[ἐργώδης|tr=ergṓdēs]]

+ * [[κακοῦργος|tr=kakoûrgos]]

+ * [[συνεργός|tr=sunergós]]

+ * [[ἐνεργής|tr=energḗs]]

+ * [[ἐργαλεῖον|tr=ergaleîon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἔρδω|tr=érdō]]

+ * [[ῥέζω|tr=rhézō]]

+ * [[-ουργός|tr=-ourgós]]

+ * [[en|synergy]]

+ * [[en|erg]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Suda explains the phrase ἔργον εἰπεῖν as “hard to say”.^(Suda)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}