πίστις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydʰtis, equivalent to πείθω (peíthō, “to persuade”) +‎ -τις (-tis). Compare the later formation, πεῖσῐς (peîsĭs).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pís.tis/ → /ˈpis.tis/ → /ˈpis.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pís.tis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/

Noun

πῐ́στῐς • (pĭ́stĭs) f (genitive πῐ́στεως or πῐ́στῐος); third declension

1. trust in others
   • c. 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 372
2. (Christianity) belief, faith
   • 50 CE – 100 CE, Epistle to the Hebrews 11:1
3. belief, confidence, assurance (the state of being persuaded of something)
4. (in a commercial sense) credit
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, For Phormio 57
5. faithfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, fidelity
6. that which gives assurance: treaty, oath, guarantee
7. means of persuasion: argument, proof
8. that which is entrusted

Declension

Third declension of ἡ πῐ́στῐς; τῆς πῐ́στεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ πῐ́στῐς hē pĭ́stĭs	τὼ πῐ́στει tṑ pĭ́stei	αἱ πῐ́στεις hai pĭ́steis
Genitive	τῆς πῐ́στεως tês pĭ́steōs	τοῖν πῐστέοιν toîn pĭstéoin	τῶν πῐ́στεων tôn pĭ́steōn
Dative	τῇ πῐ́στει tēî pĭ́stei	τοῖν πῐστέοιν toîn pĭstéoin	ταῖς πῐ́στεσῐ / πῐ́στεσῐν taîs pĭ́stesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν πῐ́στῐν tḕn pĭ́stĭn	τὼ πῐ́στει tṑ pĭ́stei	τᾱ̀ς πῐ́στεις tā̀s pĭ́steis
Vocative	πῐ́στῐ pĭ́stĭ	πῐ́στει pĭ́stei	πῐ́στεις pĭ́steis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ πῐ́στῐς; τῆς πῐ́στῐος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ πῐ́στῐς hē pĭ́stĭs	τὼ πῐ́στῐε tṑ pĭ́stĭe	αἱ πῐ́στῐες hai pĭ́stĭes
Genitive	τῆς πῐ́στῐος tês pĭ́stĭos	τοῖν πῐστῐ́οιν toîn pĭstĭ́oin	τῶν πῐστῐ́ων tôn pĭstĭ́ōn
Dative	τῇ πῐ́στῑ tēî pĭ́stī	τοῖν πῐστῐ́οιν toîn pĭstĭ́oin	τῇσῐ / τῇσῐν πῐ́στῐσῐ / πῐ́στῐσῐν tēîsĭ(n) pĭ́stĭsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν πῐ́στῐν tḕn pĭ́stĭn	τὼ πῐ́στῐε tṑ pĭ́stĭe	τᾱ̀ς πῐ́στῑς / πῐ́στῐᾰς tā̀s pĭ́stīs / pĭ́stĭăs
Vocative	πῐ́στῐ pĭ́stĭ	πῐ́στῐε pĭ́stĭe	πῐ́στῐες pĭ́stĭes
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• πῐστεύω (pĭsteúō)

Descendants

• Greek: πίστη (písti)
  • → Aromanian: pisti

Further reading

• “πίστις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πίστις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• πίστις 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
• G4102 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • allegiance idem, page 25.
  • assurance idem, page 48.
  • authenticity idem, page 53.
  • belief idem, page 72.
  • bond idem, page 89.
  • confidence idem, page 158.
  • constancy idem, page 164.
  • conviction idem, page 173.
  • credence idem, page 183.
  • credentials idem, page 183.
  • credibility idem, page 183.
  • credit idem, page 183.
  • creed idem, page 183.
  • dependence idem, page 211.
  • earnest idem, page 259.
  • faith idem, page 302.
  • faithfulness idem, page 303.
  • fealty idem, page 312.
  • fidelity idem, page 317.
  • gage idem, page 351.
  • guarantee idem, page 376.
  • honour idem, page 404.
  • loyalty idem, page 503.
  • parole idem, page 593.
  • pledge idem, page 620.
  • plight idem, page 621.
  • positiveness idem, page 628.
  • promise idem, page 653.
  • reliability idem, page 690.
  • reliance idem, page 691.
  • scrupulousness idem, page 743.
  • security idem, page 747.
  • stanchness idem, page 810.
  • steadfastness idem, page 814.
  • surety idem, page 843.
  • troth idem, page 896.
  • trust idem, page 899.
  • trustfulness idem, page 899.
  • trustiness idem, page 899.
  • trustworthiness idem, page 899.
  • undertaking idem, page 914.
  • vow idem, page 958.
  • warrant idem, page 964.
  • word idem, page 987.
• πίστις, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011