episthmh root

[Curtis Dawson]

Is pistis or is isthmi at the root of episthmh?

[Wes Wood]

Is pistis or is isthmi at the root of episthmh?

First, let me say that I have no idea, but I don't think it is either of these two options. LSJ pairs the word with ἐπίσταμαι.

[Stephen Carlson]

πίστις is related to πείθομαι.
ἐπιστήμη is related to ἐπίσταμαι, which itself appears to be very old compound of the forebears of ἐπί and ἵστημι.

[cwconrad]

πίστις is related to πείθομαι.
ἐπιστήμη is related to ἐπίσταμαι, which itself appears to be very old compound of the forebears of ἐπί and ἵστημι.

That is to say: the compound is so old that that it is deemed integral; it is the ἐ of ἐπι-that is augmented: imp. ἠπιστάμην.

[Barry Hofstetter]

Let me also point out that etymology is a secondary consideration to usage...

[Curtis Dawson]

Do you believe that is always true?

[Barry Hofstetter]

Do you believe that is always true?

Well, at least 99% of the time. Etymology does become rather important for hapax legomena and rare words used in ambiguous contexts. Otherwise, synchronic usage in context is always the primary determiner of meaning. Favorite examples would include the English word "nice" derived ultimately from the Latin "nescius" which means "foolish." Tell a middle school Latin class that, and they will be calling each other "nice" for quite a while...

[Curtis Dawson]

Was episthmh coined?

[Barry Hofstetter]

I think of a coinage as the intentional creation of a new word, rather than one which "naturally evolves" in the process of the language. I suspect that ἐπιστήμη is the latter, but if it were a coinage, it happened so early in the history of the language that nobody would ever have thought of it as a coinage.

[Barry Hofstetter]

BTW, real easy these days to use actual Greek fonts, and that is the preferred method for writing Greek on this forum.