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σοφιστής. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
σοφιστής, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
σοφιστής in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Ancient Greek
Etymology
From σοφίζω (sophízō, “to become wise”) + -ιστής (-istḗs), from σοφός (sophós, “wise”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /so.pʰis.tɛ̌ːs/ → /so.ɸisˈtis/ → /so.fisˈtis/
Noun
σοφῐστής • (sophistḗs) m (genitive σοφῐστοῦ); first declension (Attic, Ionic, Koine)
- A master of one's craft
- One who is wise, prudent, a philosopher
- teacher, tutor
- (slang, derogatory) One who makes a profit off of false wisdom: cheat, swindler
Usage notes
The reputation of the teachers at Athens came into decline in the fifth century BC, and thus came the connotation of cheat. This varies with time in relation to the general approval or disapproval of the paid teachers.
Inflection
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
- ἀκᾰτᾰσόφῐστος (akatasóphistos, “not to be put down by fallacies”)
- ἀντισοφῐστής m (antisophistḗs, “who seeks to refute”)
- ἀσόφῐστος (asóphistos, “not deluded by fallacies”)
- γυμνοσοφῐσταί m pl (gumnosophistaí, “naked philosophers, gymnosophists”)
- γυμνοσοφῐστῐ́ᾱ f (gumnosophistíā, “wisdom of gymnosophists”)
- Δειπνοσοφισταί m pl (Deipnosophistaí, “title of work by Athenaeus”)
- δειπνοσοφῐστής m (deipnosophistḗs, “learned in the mysteries of the kitchen”)
- ἰᾱτροσοφῐστής m (iātrosophistḗs, “professor of medicine”)
- ἰᾱτροφῐλόσοφος m (iātrophilósophos, “scientific doctor”)
- μεγᾰλοσοφῐστής m (megalosophistḗs, “great sophist”)
- μετεωροσοφῐστής m (meteōrosophistḗs, “astronomical sophist”)
- σοφῐστορήτωρ m (sophistorḗtōr, “sophist-orator”)
- ῠ̔περσοφῐστής m (hupersophistḗs, “arch-sophist”)
- ψευδοσοφῐστής m (pseudosophistḗs, “sham-sophist”)
- ἀκᾰτᾰσόφῐστος (akatasóphistos, “not to be put down by fallacies”)
- ἀσόφῐστος (asóphistos, “not deluded by fallacies”)
- σοφῐστείᾱ f (sophisteíā, “sophistry”)
- σοφῐστέον (sophistéon, “one must contrive”)
- σοφῐστέος (sophistéos, “one must contrive”)
- σοφῐ́στευμᾰ n (sophísteuma, “skill, method”)
- σοφῐστεύω (sophisteúō, “play the sophist; teach, give lectures”)
- σοφῐστήρῐον n (sophistḗrion, “school of sophistry”)
- σοφῐστῐάω (sophistiáō, “play the sophist”)
- σοφῐστῐκός (sophistikós, “of a sophist”)
Descendants
Further reading
- “σοφιστής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- σοφιστής in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- casuist idem, page 117.
- cheat idem, page 127.
- deceiver idem, page 200.
- doctor idem, page 245.
- genius idem, page 357.
- learned idem, page 483.
- sage idem, page 731.
- savant idem, page 735.
- scholar idem, page 739.
- sophist idem, page 794.
- thinker idem, page 867.
- trickster idem, page 894.
- wiseacre idem, page 982.