κύριος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κῡ́ρις (kū́ris), κῦρις (kûris) — Koine
• κύρης (kúrēs) — Byzantine
• κῦρρος (kûrrhos) — Thessalian

Etymology

From κῦρος (kûros, “supremacy”) +‎ -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix), from Proto-Hellenic *kúrios, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”).

Cognate with κύω (kúō), Latin cumulus, cavus, Welsh cawr

Pronunciation

Adjective

κῡ́ρῐος • (kū́rios) m (feminine κῡρῐ́ᾱ, neuter κῡ́ρῐον); first/second declension

1. (of people) ruling, governing, having power
2. (of things) decisive, critical, authorized, valid, legal, entitled
3. (of times) fixed, set, appointed
4. (of language) literal
5. main, major, primary, principal

Declension

Noun

κῡ́ριος • (kū́rios) m (genitive κῡρίου); second declension

1. (gen.) lord, master, guardian, ruler, owner
2. (Koine, direct address) "Sir"
3. (Septuagint, New Testament) God (i.e., the God of Israel)

Usage notes

1. In the Septuagint, κύριος is regularly used to translate יהוה (a.k.a. the Tetragrammaton), as well as אֲדׂנָי.
2. During the Koine period, the nominative became more regular for direct address (as opposed to just the vocative).
3. Patristic usage expanded the use of κύριος to address the Holy Spirit as well.

Declension

Derived terms

• Κύριος (Kúrios)
• κῡριακός (kūriakós)
  • κῡριακόν (kūriakón)
• κῡριεύω (kūrieúō)
• κῡριολεξία (kūriolexía)
• κῡριολογία (kūriología)
• κῡρίως (kūríōs)

Descendants

• Greek: κύριος (kýrios)
• ⇒ Byzantine Greek: κῦρ (kûr, “sir, lord”)
  • Greek: κυρ (kyr)
  • → Bulgarian: кир (kir)
  • → Middle Armenian: կիւռ (kiwṙ), կիռ (kiṙ)
  • → Old Church Slavonic: киръ (kirŭ), кѵръ (kürŭ)
  • → Romanian: chir
  • → Serbo-Croatian: kȋr / ки̑р
• Mariupol Greek: ки́риос (kírios)
• Yevanic: קִירִיאוּ (kiri'u)
• → Coptic: ⲕⲩⲣⲟⲥ (kuros), ⲕⲏⲣⲟⲥ (kēros)
• → Ecclesiastical Latin: Kyrie
  • → English: kyrie
• → Portuguese: cirio-
• →⇒ English: kyriarchy

References

Further reading

• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 592
• “κύριος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κύριος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κύριος 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
• “κύριος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2962 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • absolute idem, page 4.
  • all-powerful idem, page 22.
  • almighty idem, page 25.
  • appoint idem, page 36.
  • arbiter idem, page 38.
  • authorised idem, page 53.
  • authoritative idem, page 53.
  • authority idem, page 53.
  • binding idem, page 79.
  • cardinal idem, page 113.
  • chief idem, page 129.
  • competent idem, page 151.
  • decisive idem, page 201.
  • dominant idem, page 247.
  • effective idem, page 262.
  • entitle idem, page 278.
  • force idem, page 335.
  • foremost idem, page 336.
  • fundamental idem, page 349.
  • guardian idem, page 377.
  • head idem, page 389.
  • imperative idem, page 420.
  • imperious idem, page 420.
  • influence idem, page 439.
  • influential idem, page 439.
  • king idem, page 469.
  • leading idem, page 482.
  • lord idem, page 500.
  • main idem, page 508.
  • master idem, page 517.
  • official idem, page 571.
  • paramount idem, page 592.
  • plenary idem, page 620.
  • possessed idem, page 628.
  • prince idem, page 641.
  • principal idem, page 641.
  • ruler idem, page 726.
  • ruling idem, page 726.
  • sovereign idem, page 797.
  • staple idem, page 811.
  • supreme idem, page 842.
  • suzerain idem, page 846.
  • unabolished idem, page 906.
  • unalterable idem, page 906.
  • unrepealed idem, page 929.
  • valid idem, page 943.
• κύρης 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

Greek

Etymology

Learnedly, from Ancient Greek κύριος (kúrios, “who has power”) (noun and adjective).
For sense "mister" (term of address), from Koine Greek Κύριος (Kúrios) & semantic loan from French monsieur or Italian signore.

Compare Mariupol Greek ки́риос (kírios).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈci.ɾi.os/
• Hyphenation: κύ‧ρι‧ος

Noun

κύριος • (kýrios) m (plural κύριοι, feminine κυρία)

1. mister (title conferred on an adult male)
2. master (someone who has control over something or someone)
3. sir (an address to any male)

   formal spelling: Κύριος (Kýrios)

Declension

Synonyms

• (abbreviation) κ. (k.), plural: κ.κ. (k.k.)
• (abbreviation) κος (kos) / Κος (Kos)

Related terms

See also

• δεσποινίς f (despoinís, “miss”)

Adjective

κύριος • (kýrios) m (feminine κύρια, neuter κύριο)

1. main, principal, most important

   κύριο άρθρο εφημερίδας ― kýrio árthro efimerídas ― main article of a newspaper

Declension

Derived terms

• κύρια σελίδα f (kýria selída, “home page”)
• κύρια (kýria, “mainly”, adverb)

Related terms

• κυρίως (kyríos, “mainly”, adverb)

Further reading

• κύριος - Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής , 1998, by the "Triantafyllidis" Foundation.