ὑπόθεσις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ῠ̔ποτῐ́θημῐ (hupotíthēmi, “I set before, suggest”) +‎ -σῐς (-sis), from ῠ̔πο- (hupo-, “below”) + τῐ́θημῐ (títhēmi, “to put, place”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hy.pó.tʰe.sis/ → /yˈpo.θe.sis/ → /iˈpo.θe.sis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hy.pó.tʰe.sis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)yˈpo.tʰe.sis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /yˈpo.θe.sis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /yˈpo.θe.sis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /iˈpo.θe.sis/

Noun

ῠ̔πόθεσῐς • (hupóthesis) f (genitive ῠ̔ποθέσεως); third declension

1. proposal, proposed action; policy, intention
   1. suggestion, advice
   2. purpose
   3. occasion, excuse, pretext
   4. actor's role
   5. function, occupation, station
2. subject proposed for discussion
   1. lawsuit, legal case
   2. subject, topic
   3. speech
   4. play, pantomime
3. supposition, assumption, hypothesis
   1. presupposition
   2. premise
   3. starting point
   4. raw material
4. mortgage
5. placing under
   1. base (thing placed under another)

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ῠ̔πόθεσῐς; τῆς ῠ̔ποθέσεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ῠ̔πόθεσῐς hē hupóthesis	τὼ ῠ̔ποθέσει tṑ hupothései	αἱ ῠ̔ποθέσεις hai hupothéseis
Genitive	τῆς ῠ̔ποθέσεως tês hupothéseōs	τοῖν ῠ̔ποθεσέοιν toîn hupotheséoin	τῶν ῠ̔ποθέσεων tôn hupothéseōn
Dative	τῇ ῠ̔ποθέσει têi hupothései	τοῖν ῠ̔ποθεσέοιν toîn hupotheséoin	ταῖς ῠ̔ποθέσεσῐ / ῠ̔ποθέσεσῐν taîs hupothésesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ῠ̔πόθεσῐν tḕn hupóthesin	τὼ ῠ̔ποθέσει tṑ hupothései	τᾱ̀ς ῠ̔ποθέσεις tā̀s hupothéseis
Vocative	ῠ̔πόθεσῐ hupóthesi	ῠ̔ποθέσει hupothései	ῠ̔ποθέσεις hupothéseis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: υπόθεση f (ypóthesi)
• → Latin: hypothesis (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: гипо́теза f (gipóteza)

Further reading

• “ὑπόθεσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὑπόθεσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ὑπόθεσις 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^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • assumption idem, page 48.
  • basis idem, page 64.
  • ground idem, page 375.
  • hypothesis idem, page 412.
  • matter idem, page 518.
  • principle idem, page 641.
  • subject idem, page 830.
  • substance idem, page 832.
  • supposition idem, page 842.
  • text idem, page 863.
  • view idem, page 951.