λειτουργία Ancient Greek · revision 3117

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=5th–4th century BC, Andocides and Lysias|origins=grc λαός, ine-pro *werǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /leː.tuːr.ɡí.aː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /li.turˈʝi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /li.turˈʝi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''λειτουργῐ́ᾱ''' (leitourgíā) ''f'' (genitive λειτουργῐ́ᾱς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[λειτουργός|tr=leitourgós|t=public servant]] with the abstract suffix [[m|grc|-ία|tr=-íā]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Λειτουργός is formed from an Ionic adjective meaning “public”, related to [[λαός|tr=laós|t=people]], and the element [[m|grc|-ουργός|tr=-ourgós|t=working]], from [[ἔργον|tr=érgon|t=work]], which goes back to [[ine-pro|*werǵ-|t=to do, work]].^(Etymonline)^(Spicq 1994) The older Attic spelling was ⟨λητουργία⟩, found in an inscription of 386 BC.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Andocides and Lysias use it for the public services that wealthy Athenian citizens performed at their own expense.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At Athens and elsewhere, as on Siphnos and at Mytilene, a ''leitourgia'' was such a public service.^(LSJ 1940) Demosthenes speaks of the regular annual liturgies, and resident foreigners had liturgies of their own.^(LSJ 1940) BDAG notes that it was the usual word for a service performed by an individual for the state or the public cult.^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ In the Septuagint it is religious service, the ministry of priests, and in the New Testament it is used almost always of religious service.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)^(Spicq 1994) In Christian Greek it became the Eucharist, the Divine Liturgy: medieval vernacular Greek uses it for the celebration of the Eucharist, for prayers and hymns, and for the bread offered for it.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek [[m|el|λειτουργία|tr=leitourgía]] is both the church service and, after French ''fonction'' and ''fonctionnement'', the function or working of a machine or an organ; the popular ''λειτουργιά'' is the bread of the offering.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ English ''liturgy'' came from French or Late Latin in the 1550s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Andocides and Lysias use it for a public service paid by a citizen.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 386 BC – An Attic inscription has the spelling ''λητουργία''.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Demosthenes speaks of the annual liturgies.^(LSJ 1940)

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

+ * 14th–17th century – Vernacular Greek uses it for the Divine Liturgy.^(Kriaras)

+ * 1550s – English borrows ''liturgy''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A public service performed by a citizen at his own expense, a [[m|en|liturgy]].^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Septuagint, New Testament)'' Religious or priestly service, [[m|en|ministry]].^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # ''(Christian)'' The celebration of the Eucharist, the Divine Liturgy.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[λειτουργός|tr=leitourgós]]

+ * [[λειτουργέω|tr=leitourgéō]]

+ * [[λαός|tr=laós]]

+ * [[ἔργον|tr=érgon]]

+ * [[en|liturgy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}