καιρός

Of unclear origin. Possibly related to κείρω (keírō, “to shear, cut short”) (as a "decisive moment"), κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to mix”) (as an "atmospherical mix"), or κύρω (kúrō, “to meet (accidentally)”); Beekes seems to favor the connection to κείρω (keírō) the most.^[1] Might also be related to, or the source of, Albanian qëro (“time”) (an archaic term).

καιρός • (kairós) m (genitive καιροῦ); second declension (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Doric, Koine)

1. measure; proportion; fitness
2. (of time): period (of time); season; time
3. (often in a positive sense) proper time, opportunity; prime, the right moment, the fatal spot
4. (loosely): God's time
5. (in the plural) the times
6. advantage, profit

Not found in Homer, though it is used by other early authors who wrote in Epic Greek: Hesiod and Theognis.

• (time): χρόνος (khrónos)

• καίριος (kaírios)
• καιρόφιλος (kairóphilos)
• καιροφυλακέω (kairophulakéō)
• καιροτηρέω (kairotēréō)

• Greek: καιρός (kairós)
• →? Albanian: qëro
• → English: kairos
• → French: kairos

• “καιρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “καιρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• καιρός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• “καιρός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2540 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• καιρός in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • chance idem, page 123.
  • conjuncture idem, page 160.
  • crisis idem, page 184.
  • decisive idem, page 201.
  • emergency idem, page 268.
  • field idem, page 317.
  • high time idem, page 399.
  • hour idem, page 408.
  • moment idem, page 538.
  • nick idem, page 558.
  • occasion idem, page 568.
  • opening idem, page 576.
  • opportunity idem, page 576.
  • period idem, page 607.
  • room idem, page 721.
  • scope idem, page 740.
  • season idem, page 746.
  • time idem, page 875.
  • turn idem, page 901.

Inherited from Ancient Greek καιρός (kairós, “the right moment”). The modern sense, since mediaeval times.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ceˈɾos/
• Hyphenation: και‧ρός

καιρός • (kairós) m (plural καιροί)

1. weather

   καιρού επιτρέποντος ― kairoú epitrépontos ― weather permitting (formal expression)

2. time, events

   από καιρό σε καιρό ― apó kairó se kairó ― from time to time

• (time): χρόνος m (chrónos)

• ανεπίκαιρος (anepíkairos, “untimely”)