πολίτης Ancient Greek · revision 2666

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=grc πόλις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /po.lǐː.tɛːs/^(Wiktionary)

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /poˈli.tis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''πολῑ́της''' (polī́tēs) ''m'' (genitive πολῑ́του, feminine πολῖτῐς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[πόλις|tr=pólis|t=city]] with the suffix [[m|grc|-της|tr=-tēs]].^(Wiktionary)^(Cunliffe 1924)^(BDAG 2000) Wiktionary explains its long ''ῑ'' from the stem of πόλις, as in the Homeric variant [[πολιήτης|tr=poliḗtēs]], which led to the reanalysis of the word as ⟨πολ-ίτης⟩.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Homer it means the inhabitants of a town, its citizens, as in the ''Odyssey'' where the townspeople draw water from a spring.^(Cunliffe 1924)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Greek it is the citizen, a free member of the city with its rights, and the fellow citizen.^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000) Plato uses it for one's compatriots.^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000) Ammonius distinguishes it from [[πατριώτης|tr=patriṓtēs]]: a ''politēs'' is a free man of the same city as another free man, a ''patriōtēs'' a slave of the same country as another slave.^(Ammonius)

+

+ In the New Testament it is the citizen of a city or a country and the compatriot, and Spicq shows how Paul's civic language made Christians citizens of a heavenly city.^(BDAG 2000)^(Spicq 1994) Medieval Greek used it for the inhabitant of the heavenly city of God, and the capitalised ''Πολίτης'' came to mean a Greek of Constantinople, “the City”.^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998) Modern Greek [[m|el|πολίτης|tr=polítis]] is the citizen of a state, and, after French ''citoyen'', a civilian or private person as opposed to the authorities.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – It is used for the citizens of a town.^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for fellow citizens.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for a countryman.^(Lust 2003)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for citizens and compatriots.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * Byzantine period – ''Πολίτης'' comes to mean a man from Constantinople.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|citizen]], a free member of a city.^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # An inhabitant of a town.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # A fellow citizen, [[m|en|compatriot]].^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # ''(Christian)'' A citizen of the heavenly city.^(Spicq 1994)^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[πολῖτις|tr=polîtis]]

+ * [[πολιτεύω|tr=polīteúō]]

+ * [[πολιτικός|tr=polītikós]]

+ * [[πολιτοφύλαξ|tr=polītophúlax]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[πόλις|tr=pólis]]

+ * [[πολιτεία|tr=politeía]]

+ * [[κοσμοπολίτης|tr=kosmopolítēs]]

+ * [[en|cosmopolitan]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}