οὐσία

See also: ουσία

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 6 November 2014

Alternative forms

οὐσῐ́η (ousĭ́ē) — Ionic
ἐσσῐ́ᾱ (essĭ́ā), ὠσῐ́ᾱ (ōsĭ́ā) — Doric

Etymology

From οὖσᾰ (oûsă, feminine present participle of εἰμῐ́ (eimĭ́, “to be”)) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, abstract noun suffix).^[1] Literally, “beingness”.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /uː.sí.aː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /uˈsi.a/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /uˈsi.a/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /uˈsi.a/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /uˈsi.a/

Noun

οὐσῐ́ᾱ • (ousĭ́ā) f (genitive οὐσῐ́ᾱς); first declension

that which is one's own, one's substance, property
- c. 450 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 911
- 416 BCE, Euripides, Herakles 337
- 412 BCE, Euripides, Helen 1253
- 391 BCE, Aristophanes, Assemblywomen 729
- 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Confiscation of the Property of the Brother of Nicias 17
- 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 551B
- 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, On the Mysteries 74
- 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension 11
- 342 BCE – 291 BCE, Diphilus, Collected Works 32.7
- Anaxipp. 1.32
- 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, On the Mysteries 118
- 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Against Diogeiton 4
(philosophy) synonym of φύσις (phúsis) stable being, immutable reality
- 470 BCE – 385 BCE, Philolaus, Collected Works 11
- 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 359A–B
- 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 646A.25
- 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Historia Plantarum 6.1.1
- 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 29C
- 360 BCE, Plato, The Sophist 232C
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 966E
- 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 641B.32
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1003B.7
- 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 185C
1. substance, essence
  - 399 BCE, Plato, Euthyphro 11A
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1003B.7
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Posterior Analytics 83A.24
  - 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 643A.27
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On the Soul 402A.8
2. true nature of that which is a member of a kind
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 65D
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 92D
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Posterior Analytics 90B.30
  - 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 509B
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 245E
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1017B.22
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1031A.1
3. the possession of such a nature, substantiality
  - 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 509B
4. (in the concrete) the primary real, the substratum underlying all change and process in nature
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Fragments 208
  - 350 BCE, Aristotle, On the Heavens 298A.29
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1017B.10
  - 350 BCE, Aristotle, On the Heavens 298B.3
  - 360 BCE, Plato, The Sophist 246A
5. (logic) substance as the leading category
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Categories 1B.26
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1045B.29
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Categories 2B.5
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Categories 2A.15
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1035B.29
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1043A.30
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On the Soul 412A.16
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1037A.5
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On the Soul 412A.19
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1035B.15
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Posterior Analytics 87A.36
6. (various uses after Plato and Aristotle)
  - c. 334 BCE – c. 262 BCE, Zeno of Citium, The Stoic 1.24
  - Polystr. 12
  - 254 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Enneades 2.4.5
  - 254 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Enneades 2.6.1
  - 254 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Enneades 4.7.8
  - 254 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Enneades 6.1.2
7. Pythagorean name for I
  - Theol., Ar. 6
name of a plaster
- 400 CE – 600 CE, Aëtius, Sixteen Books on Medicine 15.15.45
a fire-resisting substance
- 498 CE – 518 CE, Zosimus, Alch. 168B
(in magic) a material thing by which a connection is established between the person to be acted upon and the supernatural agent

Inflection

First declension of ἡ οὐσῐ́ᾱ; τῆς οὐσῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ οὐσῐ́ᾱ hē ousĭ́ā	τὼ οὐσῐ́ᾱ tṑ ousĭ́ā	αἱ οὐσῐ́αι hai ousĭ́ai
Genitive	τῆς οὐσῐ́ᾱς tês ousĭ́ās	τοῖν οὐσῐ́αιν toîn ousĭ́ain	τῶν οὐσῐῶν tôn ousĭôn
Dative	τῇ οὐσῐ́ᾳ tēî ousĭ́āi	τοῖν οὐσῐ́αιν toîn ousĭ́ain	ταῖς οὐσῐ́αις taîs ousĭ́ais
Accusative	τὴν οὐσῐ́ᾱν tḕn ousĭ́ān	τὼ οὐσῐ́ᾱ tṑ ousĭ́ā	τᾱ̀ς οὐσῐ́ᾱς tā̀s ousĭ́ās
Vocative	οὐσῐ́ᾱ ousĭ́ā	οὐσῐ́ᾱ ousĭ́ā	οὐσῐ́αι ousĭ́ai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ᾰ̓πουσῐ́ᾱ (ăpousĭ́ā)
παρουσῐ́ᾱ (parousĭ́ā)
μετουσῐ́ᾱ (metousĭ́ā)
περιουσῐ́ᾱ (periousĭ́ā)

Descendants

Greek: ουσία (ousía)
→ Arabic: أُوسِيَّة (ʔūsiyya)
→ Latin: essentia (calque) (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Church Slavonic: естьство (estĭstvo) (calque) (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Church Slavonic: сѫщьство (sǫštĭstvo) (calque) (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “οὐσία”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1131