![]() ![]() ![]() Priest derives from presvyteros, a comparative of presvys “elder”, while cleric and clergy derive from klerikos “of the clergy”, from kleros “lot, allotment heritage” layman on the other hand comes from laïkos “ laic, secular”, from laos “crowd, people”. Note that the English word for a place of worship in Judaism (from Ioudaios, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew word Yehudi – where the word Jewish also derives from), the religion of the Hebrew (from Hevraios, the Greek rendering of the Aramaic ʿiḇray) people, is synagogue ( synagogé) from syn “with, together” + ago “to lead”, due to Greek being widely spoken in the Hellenistic period in Palestine ( Palaistine) – a word of uncertain origin, first used by ancient historian Herodotus and then by other Greek authors possibly a cognate of the word Philistine.Ĭhurch derives from kyriaké, meaning “ of the Lord”, froms kyrios “lord” note that Kyriaké is the Greek word for Sunday, in equivalence of the Latin Domenica, while the Greek word for church is ekklesía “assembly”, where ecclesiastic comes from. Centuries earlier, the Old Testament had been translated into Greek (before any other language) the two together comprise the Bible (from vivlion “book” from vyvlos “papyrus, scroll”), Christianity’s holy book, the final part of which is John’s Apocalypse ( apokalypsis “revelation”, literally “uncovering”). The religion itself took its name from Christ ( Christos), the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “messiah”, meaning “ anointed ”, as Greek was extremely widespread at the time, and the New Testament was written in Greek by the evangelists ( evangelistés “bringer of good news”). 1657, Rembrandt right: A folio from Papyrus 46 (an early Greek New Testament manuscript) containing 11:33–12:9 from the Second Pauline Epistle to the Corinthians Paul spent much time in Greece and Greek-speaking areas, and it was in Greek that he wrote all of his famous epistles ( epistoles, from epistello “to send a message” ) – that is, formal didactic ( didaktikos, from didasko “to teach, educate”) letters. In fact, it is believed that the first European convert to the then-new monotheistic ( monos “one, single” + theos) religion was Lydia from the city of Philippi in Macedonia, who was baptized ( vaptizo “to dip in liquid”) around 49-50 A.D. Religious faith is arguably a field where one can encounter many more Greek words than you might expect, considering that none of the most widely practiced (from prasso “to do”) religions hails from Greece however, the country was actually one of the first places where Christianity was spread –displacing the native polytheism ( polys “many” + theos “god”)– especially by Paul the apostle ( apostolos “emissary” from apostello “to send off”). Religion, spirituality and the supernatural Finally, many have been coined by English (or other non-Greek) speakers using Greek words to label new concepts and name new objects. Yet it might surprise you to find out that a number of words used in everyday conversation –from “ church” and “ angel” to “ problem” or “ plastic“– are actually Greek!īelow we will list some of these words and provide their etymology: many among them –perhaps the majority– have come to English through Latin, some have come through French and others directly through Ancient Greek. ![]() And you might also suspect the Greek origins behind some strange and obscure words like “anathema”, “synecdoche” or “onomatopoeia”, as well as long and hard-to-pronounce medical or scientific terms terms such as otorhinolaryngology or trichotillomania. Arguably most people realize that words such as democracy, philosophy or tragedy come from Greek, since the very concepts which they represent also have their roots in Greece. ![]()
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