σοφία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σοφῐ́η (sophíē) – Ionic

Etymology

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

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 • (sophíā) 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 sophíā	τὼ σοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ sophíā	αἱ σοφῐ́αι hai sophíai
Genitive	τῆς σοφῐ́ᾱς tês sophíās	τοῖν σοφῐ́αιν toîn sophíain	τῶν σοφῐῶν tôn sophiôn
Dative	τῇ σοφῐ́ᾳ têi sophíāi	τοῖν σοφῐ́αιν toîn sophíain	ταῖς σοφῐ́αις taîs sophíais
Accusative	τὴν σοφῐ́ᾱν tḕn sophíān	τὼ σοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ sophíā	τᾱ̀ς σοφῐ́ᾱς tā̀s sophíās
Vocative	σοφῐ́ᾱ sophíā	σοφῐ́ᾱ sophíā	σοφῐ́αι sophíai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Terms derived from σοφία (sophía)

• δοξοσοφῐ́ᾱ (doxosophíā)
• Σοφῐ́ᾱ Σειρᾰ́χ (Sophíā Seirákh)

• Σοφῐ́ᾱ Σολομῶντος (Sophíā Solomôntos)

• φιλοσοφῐ́ᾱ (philosophíā)

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’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• 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.

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Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek σοφῐ́ᾱ (sophíā).

Noun

σοφία • (sofía) f (plural σοφίες)

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

Declension

declension of σοφία

	singular	plural
nominative	σοφία •	σοφίες •
genitive	σοφίας •	—
accusative	σοφία •	σοφίες •
vocative	σοφία •	σοφίες •

Further reading

• σοφία in “Triantafyllidis” Foundation (1998) Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek]