σοφία

See also: Σοφία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σοφῐ́η (sophĭ́ē) — Ionic

Etymology

From σοφός (sophós, “skilled in handcrafts; clever”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /so.pʰí.aː/ → /soˈɸi.a/ → /soˈfi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /so.pʰí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /soˈpʰi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /soˈɸi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /soˈfi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /soˈfi.a/

Noun

σοφῐ́ᾱ • (sophĭ́ā) f (genitive σοφῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. skill or cleverness in carpentry, music, or other crafts
2. skill related to everyday life: sound judgment, prudence
3. knowledge of a higher kind: learning, wisdom

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σοφῐ́ᾱ; τῆς σοφῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σοφῐ́ᾱ hē sophĭ́ā	τὼ σοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ sophĭ́ā	αἱ σοφῐ́αι hai sophĭ́ai
Genitive	τῆς σοφῐ́ᾱς tês sophĭ́ās	τοῖν σοφῐ́αιν toîn sophĭ́ain	τῶν σοφῐῶν tôn sophĭôn
Dative	τῇ σοφῐ́ᾳ têi sophĭ́āi	τοῖν σοφῐ́αιν toîn sophĭ́ain	ταῖς σοφῐ́αις taîs sophĭ́ais
Accusative	τὴν σοφῐ́ᾱν tḕn sophĭ́ān	τὼ σοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ sophĭ́ā	τᾱ̀ς σοφῐ́ᾱς tā̀s sophĭ́ās
Vocative	σοφῐ́ᾱ sophĭ́ā	σοφῐ́ᾱ sophĭ́ā	σοφῐ́αι sophĭ́ai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀσοφῐ́ᾱ f (asophĭ́ā, “folly, stupidity”)
• αὐτοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (autosophĭ́ā, “authentic wisdom”)
• ἀφῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (aphĭlosophĭ́ā, “contempt for philosophy”)
• δοκησῐσοφῐ́ᾱ f (dokēsĭsophĭ́ā, “conceit of wisdom”)
• δοξοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (doxosophĭ́ā, “conceit of wisdom”)
• θεοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (theosophĭ́ā, “knowledge of things divine”)
• Σοφῐ́ᾱ Σειρᾰ́χ f (Sophĭ́ā Seirắkh, “Ecclesiasticus”)
• Σοφῐ́ᾱ Σολομῶντος f (Sophĭ́ā Solomôntos, “Wisdom of Solomon”)
• φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (phĭlosophĭ́ā, “love of knowledge, philosophy”)
• ψευδοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (pseudosophĭ́ā, “false wisdom”)

Related terms

• ἀσόφῐστος (asóphĭstos, “not deluded by fallacies”)
• σεσοφῐσμένως (sesophĭsménōs, “cunningly”, adverb)
• σοφῐ́ζω (sophĭ́zō, “make wise, instruct, devise”)
• σόφῐσμᾰ n (sóphĭsmă, “skill, method”)
• σοφῐστεύω (sophĭsteúō, “play the sophist; teach, give lectures”)
• σοφῐστής m (sophĭstḗs, “expert; philosopher, teacher; swindler”)
• σοφόω (sophóō, “make wise, instruct, devise”)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ (sophia)
• → English: Sophia, -sophy
• Greek: σοφία (sofía)
• → Latin: sophia
  • → Middle English: sophie
    • English: sophy

References

• “σοφία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σοφία 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
• G4678 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.
  • adroitness idem, page 13.
  • art idem, page 42.
  • astuteness idem, page 48.
  • cleverness idem, page 137.
  • depth idem, page 213.
  • enlightenment idem, page 275.
  • erudition idem, page 281.
  • genius idem, page 357.
  • intelligence idem, page 448.
  • learning idem, page 483.
  • part idem, page 593.
  • philosophy idem, page 610.
  • profundity idem, page 653.
  • shrewdness idem, page 771.
  • skill idem, page 780.
  • wisdom idem, page 982.
  • wit idem, page 983.

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σοφῐ́ᾱ (sophĭ́ā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈfi.a/
• Hyphenation: σο‧φί‧α

Noun

σοφία • (sofía) f (plural σοφίες)

1. wisdom
2. (in the plural, ironic) denoting a speaker's statements as anything but smart, important, etc.

Declension

Declension of σοφία

	singular	plural
nominative	σοφία (sofía)	σοφίες (sofíes)
genitive	σοφίας (sofías)	σοφιών (sofión)
accusative	σοφία (sofía)	σοφίες (sofíes)
vocative	σοφία (sofía)	σοφίες (sofíes)

Synonyms

• εξυπνάδα f (exypnáda, “cleverness”)
• ευφυΐα f (effyḯa, “intelligence”)

Antonyms

• βλακεία f (vlakeía, “stupidity”)
• ηλιθιότητα f (ilithiótita, “stupidity”)

Related terms

• αμπελοφιλοσοφία f (ampelofilosofía, “silly, consequential theory, inferior philosophy”)
• δοκησισοφία f (dokisisofía, “conceit of wisdom”)
• θυμοσοφία f (thymosofía, “mother wit, practical wisdom”)
• Σοφία f (Sofía, “female name: wisdom”)
• σόφισμα n (sófisma, “sophism”)
• σοφιστεία f (sofisteía, “sophistry”)
• φιλοσοφία f (filosofía, “philosophy”) (and derivatives)

• and see: σοφός (sofós)

Further reading

• σοφία, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
• σοφία on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el