Explore every episode of the podcast Your Greek Word On A Sunday

Hello and welcome to the last episode for this season. Thank you for staying with me for another year, downloading and sharing the podcast! Our audience is getting bigger and this is all thanks to you! Stay tuned this summer as you might find a bonus episode or two coming your way during our break and if you haven’t yet leave a review on the platform of your choice. It does help other people find us and I always love reading what you have to say. If you're on this side of the globe have a fantastic summer and if you're on the other one, have a great autumn

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today’s episode is thanks to our listener Dale Choate , American  expat in London, creative director extraordinaire  and of course Gregophile . Thanks Dale. 

Πειρείν is the Ancient Greek infinitive of ‘I try/I attempt ‘ and Πειρατής (Peiratis) is the one attempting . it’s directly linked to an attack and in particular at sea. The practice goes a long way back and has been documented as an acceptable one in the Mediterranean sea, between countries. it was perfectly legal to attack and steal goods and ships from another nation. It was illegal to attack your own. Until the Romans made it illegal all around (and I suspect it was because they didn’t have great nautical skills) The stories of tactics, thief leaders and, trade offs in the ancient world are fascinating and in the Mediterranean in particular because of the proximity of countries, seafaring and, trade. Although the word originated in Greece  -not because that’s where it began but because the meaning was so accurate- it has been used in many  languages. Piraat in Dutch, Pirat in German, Pirata in Spanish, Italian and Latin and Pirat in French where it arrived from in English, in the 14th century. ΠΕΙΡΑΤΗΣ/PIRATE

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Στάδιο (stadio) in Ancient Greece was the most popular game in the Olympics and the very first one. From 776 to 724BC that 200 yard race, was the Olympics! But it remained as the most important one even when other games where added and the  winner’s name would be given to the entire event for the next 4 years .The runners would compete naked and they were supervisors both in the beginning and the end of the race to make sure everything was done properly. If there was  a tie the race would be repeated until a clear winner was declared. The name of the game became both a measurement for distance and the name of the place the race was happening. The measurement arrived in English with the first Bibles around 1300 and was translated as 'furlong' and in 1834 ‘a large open oval structure with tiers of seats for viewing sporting events’ was a ΣΤΑΔΙΟ/STADIUM 

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

When Homer described the colour of the sea as 'wine-dark' in both the Odyssey and the Iliad, I'm sure he didn't anticipate the avalanche of misconceptions that would follow what-probably- was a moment of lyrical inspiration for the Greek Bard. And if you're wondering how can such a description cause linguistic mayhem , I urge you to ask the world wide web the following question: Did ancient Greeks have a word for the colour blue? And further more: were the ancient Greeks able to see the colour blue? Because no misconception is complete unless it's followed by a conspiracy theory nowadays. To save you the trouble the answers are 'yes' and 'yes' .What they didn't have, was the same vocabulary or colour palette as us. What we call today a shade of a colour to the ancient Greeks was the colour itself. So, as a modern example, burgundy would not be a shade of red but a colour of its own. Blue was not in the picture because there was turquoise, like the stone and the word for the lighter shade , that arrived in English through Latin and French in 1879, was first used by innovator, photographer and printer Edward Steichen, to describe a colour in his print of the solar spectrum. The Greeks used it in several combined words to define the exact shade but the colour of the sky, on a great, Greek, sunny day was ΚΥΑΝΟ/CYAN

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Hello and happy July everyone! The results of the prize draw are in and our winner is...Melanie Bittner from Germany! Congratulations Melanie, you will be receiving your gift very soon! Thank you for submitting your favourite episode which is from 2022 (now that's a loyal listener!). Let's pretend for a moment we're an old fashion radio station-I'm gonna lower my voice-and this, is a request from Melanie. Here, is her favourite episode

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

 Συριγξ (Syrinx) in Ancient Greek was the name of an Arcadian Nymph. When the god Pan was young, he fell in love with her and chased her to the shores of the river Λάδων (Ladon). She clearly wasn't interested because she hid among the canes by the shore. Pan never found her but he made his musical instrument, known as pan-pipe from those canes and he named it, in Greek, after her. Later on, anything with the shape of a hollow cylinder would be named after her. From long tunnels to injection instruments, her name would reach medieval Latin as Syrinx , before landing in England. Συριγξ/Syringe

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

This is a word that has changed very little and has a very interesting story. Στίζειν (stizin) is an ancient Greek infinitive meaning 'to mark'. The verb is Στιγματίζω (stigmatizo). Although in many countries being tattooed is considered an honourable action, the Ancient Greeks used it as a mark of disgrace. And they learned that from the Persians. In one of the battles between Greece and Persia, some Greeks joined the other side. When that battle was lost and Greeks surrendered, the Persians thought the traitors might double cross them in the future so, they marked their foreheads with the Persian royal emblem. We have several mentions from the historian Herodotus of Athenians, marking their enemies' foreheads with the Athenian symbol, the owl. Greeks also used a very painful method way to remove tattoos. It took 20 days and involved a cloth to tie around the head, a needle to pierce the tattoo, salt to dry it and either, gypsum and sodium carbonate or pepper dust and honey. Tattoos seemed to be almost exclusively on foreheads and marked criminals and slaves too. The word came to English in the late 1500s in the writings of courtier and author Sir John Harington and he used the Latinised spelling of the Ancient Greek noun ΣΤΙΓΜΑ/STIGMA

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Hello and welcome to our 300th episode! I know, right? I never thought I'd make it this far and it's all thanks to you! Have you entered the prize draw yet? Email me your favourite episode, your name and where you're listening from at yourgreeksunday@gmail.com by July 1st , for a chance to win a personalised gift. I will announce the winner on the episode of July 6th! On with our Myth-Of course it's a myth!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

The Phaeacians were a mythical tribe in Homer's Odyssey who helped Odysseus get back to Ithaca. When Poseidon wrecked Odysseus's ship in the shores of Scheria, some say that's ancient Atlantis,  he didn't anticipate Athena's and Aphrodite's determination to help our hero get back home. By transforming into several women and appearing in the Phaeacians' Princess dreams, they managed to make her help him get to King Alcinoous and ask for a ship. The Phaeacians were experts in sailing and navigating but they had a secret. A rock, clear in colour that came from the depths of the Ocean. It was said it held the knowledge of all the countries in the world and if you stuck a piece of it under your ship , it would not only make it indestructible but it would navigate itself by reading your mind about your destination and take you there safely. The word came to English the usual way, through Latin and French  in the late 14th century. A rock that has been formed in cold waters or on the surface by extreme cold is a ΚΡΥΣΤΑΛΛΟ/CRYSTAL

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Hi everyone! We are one episode away from our 300th one and I'm going to celebrate by giving to one of you out there, a little gift with your favourite Greek word from this podcast, written on it. This is how it works, email me your favourite word at yourgreeksunday@gmail.com with your name and the country you're listening from and I'll do a hat-draw and announce the winner on Sunday July 6th. If you already know what your favourite episode is, great! Send me an email right away. If you need more time to revisit the episodes and decide later, you have two whole weeks to do so! The deadline is the 1st of July, That's a Tuesday. For now, on with our episode!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

I honestly didn't expect to find so much interesting information about today's word. It's one of those that stayed intact since put together but the progress, inventiveness and global collaboration is outstanding! Τέλε (tele) in ancient Greek , meant 'something far away' . Γραφείν (grafin) is the ancient greek infinitive meaning  'to write'. The combined word means 'writing over distance' and it's a practice that started with smoke signals, fires on to wers, flags on ships and as we became more industrious we have: in 1791 the Chappe brothers of France inventing what was called a two-flag semaphore. A complex construction of small flags and poles to indicate letters and numbers that would be put on top of a tower and could be read from afar. Then in 1795, George Murray of England would invent a shutter system, where opening and closing six shutters in different ways, read as letters to the person watching from far away. That system took over America where there are still places called 'signal hill' where shutters used to be placed. And then, electricity got established and with it, an invention upgraded step by step by different people, in different places and if I may add, very quickly! In 1800 Alessandro Volta of Italy discovering the voltaic cell and how to power devices with electricity. Hans Christian Orsted of Denmark, in 1820 discovering the electric needle and how to carry electric current without depending on the weather being clear. William sturgeon of Britain, five years later, in 1825 discovering the multiturn electromagnet. In 1831 Michael Faraday of England with Joseph Henry from the states, refining and electromagnetic power to make it stable and possible to power devices. And lastly, Sir William Forthgill Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone obtaining the patent. So, you see, the word might have started as an idea in Greece and from Latin and French came to English but it took years of collaborations and building upon other people's ideas, carrying on inventing and perfecting until we had a working ΤΗΛΕΓΡΑΦΟΣ/TELEGRAPH

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Before we begin, a shout out to fellow Thespian Constanza Ruff who suggested the word to me. If you'd like to send me ideas, comments or questions about anything you hear in this podcast, you can reach me at yourgreeksunday@gmail.com. On with our episode!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Τέλεσμα (telesma) in ancient Greek and Τελετή in modern means 'a ritual' . The word travelled to Arabic as Tilasm and meant 'enigma' or 'lucky charm'. Although, that would be our current interpretation of lucky charm. In the ancient world, it was more of a divine protection in the form of an inscription on clothes or a piece of paper one would always carry with them. Especially in battle. The word was picked up by the French through-possibly-Turkey in the mid 1600s according to French linguist Claudius Salmasius. And at the same time, appeared in English in the writings of English resident, German philologist, Franciscus Junius. It's worth saying here that, both men had French names but it was custom to adopt Latin names in order to publish work. Today, a symbol or a design that is used as protection from harm is a ΤΕΛΕΣΜΑ/TALISMAN

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Είδω (aedo) in Ancient Greek meant 'I know' but also 'I see', literally. Now, as if Greek spelling wasn't complicated enough, there are two ways to write this. Today we'll talk about the very first form that is still used today, but only in a handful of words. Ancient Greek philosophers used the noun 'είδωλον' (aedolon) to describe the formation of an image in one's head or an actual representation of that image; like a carving or a statue and more specifically, the image of one of the Gods.  So, a statue of Athena, would be an είδωλον (aedolon) of Athena. By the time the word passed into Latin, Christianity had started to rise and the word, in religious texts, was associated with Paganism and the 'false representation of God'. The spelling was simplified in Latin and the word arrived in English the 1300s with religious texts. One last addition was in 1590 where a person worshiped like a God was also called an ΕΙΔΩΛΟ/IDOL

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(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Πολλοί (polloi) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'many' and Θεός (Theos) means 'God'. Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish philosopher that lived between 25BC and 50AD. In his writings he tried to harmonise the Tora with Ancient Greek Philosophy and particularly, Plato. He was the one wo spoke of the worship of many gods versus the one with many faces which was a meaning that would drive many religious debates for years to come. The term then vanishes and reappears in Jean Bodin's writings. A French, political philosopher and member of the French parliament who worked on the origins of religion in the 1500s. A hundred years later the term reappears in English this time, in the writings of traveller and English Anglican Cleric, Samuel Purches, who describes the religions of the places he visited. The meaning remained the same but the practice of worshiping many gods vanished in the west until the 1970s and the revival of paganism. Today, all around the world, there are people worshiping more than one god and that religion is called ΠΟΛΥΘΕΙΣΜΟΣ/POLYTHEISM

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Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that you can go to the description of this episode, click on the word 'Audible' and claim your one month free trial and a free download of your choice. Send me a message and let me know what you chose!

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

In Ancient Greece there was a form of government that peaked around the 6th and 7th century BC and saw many Greek states under it. One man that wasn't voted to rule but rather placed into power by his followers ignoring the public vote. A man that was popular and rich enough to not be challenged. He would assign high government officials that were family members, raise taxes for the majority of the population and make sure every decision was for the sake of his own profit. They were also extremely vain , some would benefit their states by backing the arts or building useful institutions but that was only because the competition with other states was high. And of course, they would pass on the ruling to their sons. There is no historical evidence that any Greek state had one family rule for more than three generations and although they loved to be called 'King' , Greek law had Kings abide to it, something these rulers completely ignored. The title word took a very nasty turn after Plato and Aristotle wrote about them and cemented the meaning that followed in Latin and spread across the world. A self-serving monarch that governs in vanity and greed is a ΤΥΡΑΝΝΟΣ/TYRANT

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(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

One of the oldest and most amazing civilisations that we can be thankful for their discoveries, developments and general advancement of the human race, used to bear a Greek name and although the Greeks referred to a very specific region, now known as Iraq, the name has come to represent a much wider area and academics use it to chronologically defined eras. We find the name as early as the 2nd century AD in Greek writing and until 1921 when it was officially changed, it was used interchangeably for many places between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Μέσο (meso) in ancient Greek and Μέση (mesi) in modern means 'the middle' and Ποταμός (potamos) means 'river'. The land between two rivers is ΜΕΣΟΠΟΤΑΜΙΑ/MESOPOTAMIA

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Μάσταξ (mastax) in Ancient Greek meant 'Jaw' and the verb- that is still used in Greek- is μασώ (maso). 'I chew'.  One letter change from Jaw and your upper lip is called  μύσταξ (mistax). The word for the hair growing on it is exactly the same and first came into French through Latin 'Mostaccio' and remained in English, as a French word. since 1585 when it was found in a translation by Thomas Washington. ΜΥΣΤΑΞ/MOUSTACHE

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today's word had two meanings in Ancient Greece and could also be used metaphorically. Σκήπτω (skipto) in Ancient Greek meant 'I lean on' something. Ambassadors and messengers were often put in difficult positions either negotiating for their state's interests or bringing bad news so, they carried a staff to protect themselves but later it became a symbol of someone who was protected so they were safe on sight. A staff was also present in public debates and held by the speaker. And lastly, in courts, it was held by judges. As a symbol of power a staff would be passed from father to son and some had an ornament on top, the equivalent of a family crest although, Zeus had an Eagle (he would, would he?). Metaphorically we find the word used in the Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex where his children are described as the staff that carries light. And today, we refer to it as a symbol of power. The word went from Latin 'Sceptrum' to French 'Ceptre' and then English in the 1300s. ΣΚΗΠΤΡΟ/SCEPTRE

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Happy Easter to those of you celebrating and I hope you're having a relaxing Sunday those of you who don't. 

Before the Byzantine separation that brought us Eastern and Western Christianity, this word meant 'a universal faith' or more accurately  'a faith recognised by all'. The first time we find that word in writing is in a letter from 110AD by Ignatius of Antioch, addressing the Christians in Smyrna to follow their Bishop like the church follows 'the universal faith'. Κατά (kata) is a preposition and among other things, it means 'according to' and ολικός (olikos) means 'Whole'.  ΚΑΘΟΛΙΚΟΣ/CATHOLIC

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Let me tell you what happens when you're your own producer, editor and, host. You spend a few hours of research and writing your episode then, you get into the booth, do a few takes so you have options, edit everything to an episode you  really like and when you're about to save it-at which point you've spend the better part of you afternoon-a message pops up telling you 'that episode already exists' and you remember that you've done that word two years ago! I think it's for the best as the word I found instead, fits perfectly that situation.

(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

One of the Phrygian gods that arrived in Greece (because they didn't have enough apparently) was the maternal goddess Κυβέλη (Cybele). She was similar to the Geek 'Gaia'  and wasn't an instant hit but her myth is attached to Dionysus as she supposedly cured him from his madness so that made her more likable. Fast forward a few years and the Romans are in great distress by war, famine, failed harvest and a meteor shower! They feel the Empire might collapse so , they consult both the Roman and the Greek oracles and they decide to bring Κυβέλη to Rome. They rename her Magna Mater (The Great Mother) and soon after, the famine ends, the war is won and...it's Spring! They celebrated Magna Mater on March 25th, the Spring Equinox, and named that day (which became a whole festival)'Hilaria' from the Greek word for 'Joyous'. ΙΛΑΡΟΣ/HILARIOUS.

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Happy Spring, everyone! The clocks moved, the days are getting bigger and the Sun is gracing us with its presence more often than not. 

On the first of April in most parts of the world, it's custom to lie, trick and prank eachother. Do you know why? There are a few theories but the most popular one goes back to 1564 in France. Up until that point , the French celebrated New Year's Day on the 25th of March and the celebrations lasted until the first of April but that year, the King decided to sync with the rest of Europe and changed the celebration to January 1st. Not everyone got the memo immediately so, the ones who kept celebrating in March were teased, pranked and called one name in particular. In ancient Greek, the word for a person not contributing to society because they were unskilled or uneducated translates as ' a  private person', one that is not being in sync or engaging with society productively. In Latin, the word escaped the April Fool's custom and that's how it travelled in English. ΙΔΙΩΤΗΣ/IDIOT

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

It's Mother's day here, today, and I hope it's a happy one for all of you. My own Mum is listening from Athens so, Happy Mother's day Mum!

Αρχή (arhi) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'The authority' but also, 'The beginning'. The word for 'Mother' in ancient Greek is 'Μήτηρ' and in modern 'Μητέρα'. Now that's a word that goes back a very long time and although we find it in all Latin based languages, more or less in similar form, Mutter in German, Madre in Italian and Spanish, Mere in French, Mother in English and so on, there hasn't been a western society solely run by women apart from the Amazons. In Indonesia however, and specifically in West Sumatra, the indigenous ethnic group Minangkabau is the largest female led society that we know of with a population of 6.7 million. Do have a read about them when you get some time. The combination of the two words is found for the very first time in English in 1885 in London's literary journal The Athenaeum. ΜΗΤΡΙΑΡΧΙΑ/MATRIARCHY

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Hi everyone! After listening to this episode, visit the description and click on the word 'Audible' for a month-long free trial and a free audiobook download. On with our word!

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Τρία (tria) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'three'. Πτυχή (ptyhi) means 'fold' and a picture you could fold because it was carved or painted in three compartments, was something very common in religious painting during the Middle Ages. However, it goes back much further, to ancient Greece where according to Herodotus in 5th century BC, a wooden frame filled with wax was used for writing. The material has changed since as well as the appliance of the term. Whether in photography, art or music, a three part project that can be seen as one is a ΤΡΙΠΤΥΧΟ/TRIPTYCH

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(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Before we begin, a shout-out to fellow thespian and loyal listener, David Charles for bringing today's word to my attention. A word with such an interesting and complex history . Thanks David!

Δια (dia) means 'through' or 'across' and Ασπρο (aspro) in modern Greek , means 'white'. And here's the tricky part, 'asper' is the Latin word for 'rough' (hence 'asperity' in English) but it was also used for the shiny coins of small denomination in Greek Byzantium because their engravings were rough. They were called 'aspro'. And because of that, a fabric that was white and bright with patterns woven onto it, was also called 'aspro';  but the Greeks needed distinguish between the coins and the fabrics so they added δια (dia) to the word, which means a fabric with patterns across it. As time went by and white fabrics started being used to clean babies the word went back to Latin as 'diasprum', to the French as 'diapre' -not used anymore- and in English from the Greek ΔΙΑΣΠΡΑ/DIAPERS

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Before we begin, if you haven't listened to last week's news, we have become an affiliate to Audible. If you like listening to podcasts and books go to the description of this episode, click on the word 'Audible' and get your one month, free trial to download any item you like. On with our episode!

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Every ancient culture has a myth about a flood that wipes out humanity. And so did the ancient Greeks. When Zeus decided that humans were corrupt, he sent a flood to drown Greece but he saved two people he thought were worth saving; King Δευκαλιων (Defkalion) and his Queen Πύρρα (Pirra). They built a boat and travelled for nine days until they reached Delphi. There, they asked the oracle how they could rebuild humanity. The oracle said 'you have to cover your faces and throw the mother's intestines behind your backs' , Oh, they both understood, so they covered their faces and started walking, picking up stones from Mother Earth and throwing them behind them. Wherever a stone landed, a human appeared. And so, humanity was saved. Or that's how the myth goes anyway. Κατά (kata) is a preposition meaning 'downward' and κλυζείν (klizin) is the ancient Greek infinitive meaning 'to flood' . The combined word came to English through religious texts from France in the early 1600s. ΚΑΤΑΚΛΥΣΜΟΣ/CATACLYSM

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Happy March, everyone!

At the beginning of the year, I promised to keep this podcast Ad free and find another way to make it a profitable endeavour and today, I'm here to celebrate exactly that!

I would like to welcome our new sponsor, Audible! A place where you can find thousands of audiobooks and download them, for your listening pleasure. Head to the description of this episode, click on the word 'Audible' and get your one month free-trial that you can cancel at anytime. And if you're wondering how this works for me, all the information can be found in the description as well. On with our episode!

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Ακούω (akouo) in Greek means 'I hear'. The noun is ακουστική (akoustiki) and it means 'the audible' . Joseph Sauveur was a mathematician and physicist in the French court, during the enlightenment, and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He grew up with a hearing and speech impairment and had to often rely on musicians' ears for his results. Among other fascinating subjects he delved into the vibrations of Greek, Roman, Arabic and Persian music to study the correlation between frequency and pitch and in 1701 he presented the results of his research to the Academy. It was then when he coined the term for his new found practice on what the author and librettist, Fontenelle, called  'The discovery of an unknown country' ΑΚΟΥΣΤΙΚΗ/ACOUSTICS

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

With the state of our world being what it is , I thought this word is a good fit. 

Humphrey Osmond was a British-Canadian researcher and psychiatrist interested in exploring the possibilities of LSD to treat mental illness and substance abuse. He befriended Albert Hoffman (the scientist who discovered LSD) and, Aldous Huxley the author of books like The Doors of perception and Brave new world. Together with Huxley they tried to find a name for the experience of taking LSD and they experimented (full pun intended) by combining several Greek words. In 1957, during a meeting at the New York Academy of Sciences, Osmond used for the first time his new found term to describe his research. Ψυχή (psyche) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'soul' and δήλος (delos) meant 'the visible'. Osmond accompanied the word with this rhyme 'to fathom Hell or soar Angelic/just take a pinch of..' ΨΥΧΕΔΕΛΙΚΟ/PSYCHEDELIC

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Gaia in English and Γαία in Greek, was one of the first Ancient Greek gods and the mother of the world. Her modern name is 'The Earth'. Γραφείν (grafin) is the ancient Greek infinitive of the verb 'Writing'. Although the Babylonians were the first to attempt and draw a map of the world that surrounded them, the Ancient Greeks where the first to mathematically prove the earth is not flat (it really isn't). Eratosthenes, in the the 3rd century BC, made a pretty accurate calculation of the size of he earth and he also put the two greek words together to name the practice of mapping the world. The spelling has changed as the word travelled and it arrived in the English speaking world in the 1500s from France. ΓΕΩΓΡΑΦΙΑ/GEOGRAPHY

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today's word is another example of a word having originally a wider meaning and getting very specific when attached to a belief. Ορθός (orthos) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'upright' but also 'correct'. Δόξα (doxa) means 'praise' but also 'opinion' and the combined word can mean all of the above. Well...used to. In 1054 AD the religious war in Byzantium, split Christianity in two. The East and the West, The East had a set of doctrines and needed a name to identify themselves and those against the Heretics. So, according to the Eastern church, believing in and praising the correct set of doctrines (that later went on to define eastern Christianity) , would make you an ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟΣ/ORTHODOX

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

I usually get the question 'Where do you find all these words?' and most times the answer will be 'from all of you'. Whether you 've sent me a word asking if it's Greek that sends me down a rabbit hole and discover four more on the way or I'm having a chat with a friend and we both pause to the sound of a word they've just used and I jot it down for research or even if my friends directly ask 'have you looked that one up?' I guess, after all this time, we have build a system , you and me where you can find me by email or on my social media and suggest, ask or comment freely. Please, keep doing that. I love hearing from you! All the links on how to get in touch are on the description of every episode. Today's word however, falls under a different category. Me, watching television. There's this great series I'm watching and the title is the very word I'm taking about. 

Διπλούν (diploun) is an ancient Greek infinitive and it means 'to fold in two'. In modern Greek Διπλό (diplo) means 'double. Yes, that's the same root word. Ancient Greeks didn't use paper but papyrus so, no paper was folded. The Romans however, took that word and applied it to the official, folded in half, document needed to prove  you were a Roman citizen, an ID if you like. The word for that document travelled to England in the 1600s and despite the noun and the adjective getting different meanings with time, they both kept their attachment to something official. An official document folded in two is called a ΔΙΠΛΩΜΑ and someone appointed as a representative to a different country is called a ΔΙΠΛΩΜΑΤΗΣ. DIPLOMA and DIPLOMAT.

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

There is an ancient fruit that grows in Greece and it's the food that sustained thousands of Greeks, including my grandparents, during the second world war. It's called ΧΑΡΟΥΠΙ (charoupi). In ancient Greek it was called ΚΕΡΑΤΙΟΝ (cerateon) meaning 'little horn' because, it looks like one! The ancient Greeks discovered that the weight of each seed of the fruit never changes so they used it as a measure of weight against precious metals and stones. The Romans used to measure their gold with it as one seed was 1/24th of their gold siliqua coin. They, of course, used the Latin word for it that passed on to the French and came to English in the 15th century but the measure for gold purity remained 24 ΚΑΡΑΤΙ/CARAT

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

In ancient Athens there were many philosophical schools of thought that one could join. The main philosopher of each school would gather everyone in the Agora (a place under the Acropolis where you can still visit today) and there, they would have their own spot within it, to hold their teachings and debates. One of the most misunderstood philosophical schools today, was formed by Zeno of Citium in 300BC. He'd gather everyone in his Στοά Ποικίλη (stoa pikili)- stoa means 'porch' and pikili in ancient Greek meant 'colourful' . So, a painted porch. In this case depicting the famous battle of Marathon. He would teach, not detachment from emotion as many might think but, moderation in owning material goods, deep thinking before acting, the celebration and caretaking of one's life as there's no afterlife, reason and, inner peace. 
Because not everyone had a porch and Zeno's was colourful, the school was named after it. ΣΤΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΣ-STOICISM

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

As we're moving into this new year, there's one thing I hope to be able to keep doing both as a human and an actor.
Μετά (meta) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'after'. Μορφή (morfi) means 'shape' . The combined word was first introduced in English in 1447 by Osbern Bokeman, an English poet and friar who travelled to Italy a lot. The word in Latin sounds exactly the same as the Greek but the spelling is Latinised and it means 'the process of becoming something new', 'constantly changing', 'transforming', 'reshaping' .
ΜΕΤΑΜΟΡΦΩΣΗ/METAMORPHOSIS

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Happy New Year, Everyone!
The oldest and the most elegant of the muses-according to Hesiod and Ovid- was Calliope. Her name meaning 'beautiful voice'. She was the mother of Orpheus and she presides over song, dance and epic poetry. Επος (epos) in Ancient Greek meant a tale, a story and a poem about heroic acts was called Επικο (epiko) . The word came to English in two parts. In 1580 it started being used as a 'long poem' regardless of content and in 1731 was used as the Greeks intended, the praising of heroic acts like The Odyssey or The Iliad. 
May this year be full of new memories that will lead to amazing stories. ΕΠΙΚΟ/EPIC

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Hello everyone!
As the end of 2024 approaches, I'd like to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you've shown for this podcast. I intend to keep your minute of knowledge ad free and try and find other ways to make this a profitable endeavour. In the meantime, there is a way you can help. Share this podcast. Far and wide. Post your favourite episode on social media, tell your friends, write a review, play an episode on speakers on the train. No, don't do that! Just share the joy of learning. You can also send me your comments, questions or thoughts about anything you've heard on this podcast to yourgreeksunday@gmail.com or, follow me on Instagram and Blue Sky @yourgreeksunday and leave a comment there. 
Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and I'll be back on January 5th with a bright new word! 

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating and, have a restful week ahead to those of you who don't. This is a spice that has travelled far and wide . Once a present fit for Kings or an offering to the Gods; It's referenced in most ancient religions as 'Precious'. In Greece it arrived form the Phoenicians and as far as we know the very first reference in Ancient Greek was in a poem by Sappho in 7th century BC. In Ancient Rome it was one of the most expensive spices, just 327 grams of it, cost a ten month salary! There were many myths in the ancient world about its origin. From the bottom of the Nile to plants guarded by dragons it arrived in England after the East India company took control of its trade in 1767 and the name came through the Latin and French but based in the Ancient Greek one  ΚΙΝΝΑΜΩΜΟΝ/CINNAMON

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

It's getting a little festive in some parts of the world so, I thought of giving you a word that describes one of my favourite festive traditions. Χάρτης (Chartis) in ancient Greek and Χαρτί (charti) in modern, means paper. The word came to English in the 15th century through Latin: Carta then French: Carte and in old English the name for a piece of paper you could play games with. The meaning of a stamped paper that you could write on and post to people, is from 1870 and a little earlier 1862 we find the same word to describe writing and sending wishes for special occasions on a ΧΑΡΤΙ/CARD. 

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Τηλέ (tele) is an Ancient Greek adverb meaning ‘far away’.  Φωνή (phone) in both ancient and modern Greek means voice . In 1835 a system of conveying words to a distant point by means of musical notes, was invented by the French composer Jean Francois Sudre. For obvious reasons it wasn’t very practical. The combination of Greek words that was used to describe it however, carried on into foghorns signalling from ship to ship. That didn’t stick either. Then on March 7th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell used the combination of the words for one last time when he submitted his invention of a ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΟ /TELEPHONE

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

I think this might be a tricky one if you're learning Greek at the moment so, I'd definitely recommend reading the transcript for the spelling because, if you rely on listening to this, you will get confused. If you're not learning Greek and just enjoying a minute of knowledge, you'll be fine without reading ;unless of course you want to! This is a combined word where the second component is an -ology. An easy way to remember what -ologies do is that they make the first word an expert. Ετυμος (etymos) is an ancient greek word that is not used anymore by itself. It meant 'The true one', 'The original'. The combined word means 'the expert study of the original'  and it came to English through Latin and French in the 14th century. It is used for language and tracing back words to their original meaning . Pretty much what this podcast does. ΕΤΥΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ/ETYMOLOGY

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Before we begin, I have an announcement; From December 1st our account on X will no longer exist. Instead we're moving into Blue Sky and I'll put the handle on the description so you can find us there. @yourgreeksunday.bsky.social . I think it's a much friendlier platform. If you don't have an account there, you can find us on Instagram @yourgreeksunday where I also post videos with additional information on specific episodes or, you can follow my acting page on Facebook : Emmanuela Lia, a place where I share all my work including this podcast. And finally, if you're not into social media, thank you for waiting to listen to today's word! Let's go!

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Πους (pous) in ancient Greek and Πόδι (podi) in modern, means 'foot/leg'. Τρία (tria) means 'three'. From Ancient China to Ancient Greece we see many three- legged portable stands, cauldrons and vases. The first time the combination of those two words was recorded, was in the ancient syllabic alphabet used by the Mycenaeans and predating Ancient Greek, Linear B. The syllables read TI-RI-PO and of course nobody knows how they were pronounced but they were describing three-legged objects. The word was used in Ancient Greek and Latin and it came to English in 1603 in a translation of Plutarch's 'The Morals' by Philemon Holland and, a Latin pronunciation. ΤΡΙΠΟΔΟ/TRIPOD

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today we have not one but two terms that were made up from Greek words and were coined in England. This time in 1865 by banker, philanthropist, scientist and polymath John Lubbock. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline and promoted the need for public libraries, among other things. In his study of archaeology and the need to clearly distinguish Stone Age periods, he formed two new words. Παλαιό (paleo) in Greek means 'old' and Νεο (neo) means 'new' . Λίθος (lithos) means 'stone'. The combination seems fairly simple to us now but the concept is genius! The division of the Stone Age into ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ & ΝΕΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ/PALAEOLITHIC & NEOLITHIC

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Aristotle used this word in his definition of Greek Drama and in particular Tragedy
Έστιν ουν τραγωδία, μίμησις πράξεως σπουδαίας και τελείας...' This is tragedy, the imitation of a significant and absolute act. Richard Dawkins used it to coin a new term in 1976 and according to Wikipedia 'it is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme' Well, in today's digital and visual language, it has taken the form of a short image-burst, that may or may not have words but it's an imitation of an idea, action or vibe. ΜΙΜΗΣΗ/MEME

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Happy November, everyone! We're still in Halloween mood here in the UK so, I've decided to follow up from last week's word. This is probably one of the most accurate yet creative modern namings of a medicine I know. We touched upon this god on a couple of episodes with his name mentioned in the last one but I've never told you his story. He was one of the first gods. Son of night and Sleep, nephew of Death (and I'm here to correct myself calling them brothers last week) , two of his thousands of siblings were Fear and Fantasia, also known as Dreams and although they had wings, he didn't need them. His purpose was to deliver messages to mortals from the other gods. His name comes from the word Μορφή (morfi) which means 'Shape' , because he would shape into anyone in order for the message to be more effective. According to the Roman writer Ovid, he would sleep on a bed of poppies and that's were the German pharmacist Friedrich Serturner who isolated the substance in 1804, got the idea for the name. The substance that would ease your pain, cause you to hallucinate or be deadly. If you haven't guessed it yet, the name of the god is Morpheus and the medicine ΜΟΡΦΙΝΗ/MORPHINE

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Before we begin I have a small update for you, we did not win last week's  Independent podcast awards but we're very happy we were nominated and, we got to spent the evening with so many interesting people, who are all passionate about the podcasts they create. So, go to the Independent Podcast Awards website, look up all the winners and the nominees. I'm sure you'll find more than one podcast to subscribe to. 
But for today, 
Happy Halloween
Let the spooky words in

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

In modern Greek κοιμάμαι (kimame) means 'I sleep', in ancient Greek κείμαι (kime) meant  'I lie down' and a κοιμητήριο (kimitirio) was 'a bedroom'. After Christianity came along and suggested that death is nothing but a long sleep until the second coming, this place, would for some writers be an exceptional starting point for their ideas to come to life. Among other things. The word travelled to England through the usual route, Latin and French and Christianity secured the meaning. Although, Morpheus, the God of Sleep and his brother Death, never loosened their grip. ΚΟΙΜΗΤΗΡΙΟ/CEMETERY

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Διδάσκειν (didaskin) is ancient Greek infinitive, the noun is Διδαχή (didahi) and the verb that is also used in modern Greek is Διδάσκω  (didasko). The word came to English from the French in the 1600s in a translation by Samuel Hartlib, who was a fascinating man and was described as 'The European intelligencer' , what a way to describe someone who's life goal is to further knowledge! Although today the word has a negative connotation that comes from the 19th century, it didn't start that way, it meant exactly was the Greek word still means today. Someone capable of teaching. ΔΙΔΑΚΤΙΚΟΣ/DIDACTIC

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

One of the benefits of being bilingual is that it gives you a bigger language field to get lost in and explore. However, sometimes you forget the obvious or take some words for granted; Like the one today which, I was convinced I've already talked about but haven't. Φίλος (philos) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'friend'. Σοφία (sofia/sophia) means 'wisdom'. The combined word was used to describe a practice in ancient Greece. The search for knowledge. Later on, it took the meaning of 'rational thought' and in English we first find it in Middle English as a direct loan from the French and meaning 'the exploration of all sciences including Alchemy'. As thinkers and scientists got more specific in their practices, so did the word. It got attached to the thinkers and, stayed. ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑ/PHILOSOPHY

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Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that you can always email me with comments, questions or anything you want to say about what you hear in this podcast at yourgreeksunday@gmail.com . You can also follow me on Instagram and X @yourgreeksunday and leave a review or a comment on the platform of your choice.

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Welcome to season 8! Wow! Although technically this is 7 and a bit, as I started season 1 on a January but who's counting, right? Well, this summer I realised how long I've been doing this because I got a few people asking me for advice on how to start a podcast and, I could answer; which also gave me the idea of our first word. Here we go! When Odysseus left Ithaca for Troy, he assigned his best friend to stand in for him for his son Telemachus; he would advise and protect the boy and occasionally be replaced by the Goddess Athena for some extra wisdom (because Gods did that!). His name became a character quality in 1699 (and much much much later, a job) after the publication of the French novel 'The adventures of Telemachus' by Francois Fenelon; which seems to have been very popular both in France and England and the book itself has a very interesting journey, have a look when you get a chance. So, for this magnificent human skill that comes with years of hard work, experience or divine intervention, we have one character in Homer's Odyssey to thank for and his name is ΜΕΝΤΟΡ/MENTOR

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Hello and Happy Autumn, everyone or Happy Fall if you're on the other side of the pond. Our new season will start in October but until then, I have some wonderful news! Our podcast has been nominated for an Independent Podcasts Award! The awards ceremony will be held at The King's Place in London and I'll put a link in the description (see below) , in case you want to book a ticket for the night and join the fun. 
Now, you cannot vote for us since this year's judges are the ones deciding the winners BUT what you can do is, go to the platform of your choice and leave us a review. That, will help more people discover us and experience what you already enjoy, not to mention I love reading your reviews! Thank you for listening and getting us so far. Oh, and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @yourgreeksunday for short videos and updates. 
See you soon! 

Link to the awards
https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/independent-podcast-awards-2024/

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Have you noticed how this year, the first word of every month has been a myth or myth related? Whether you have or not, thank you for listening and staying with me for another season. As this is the last episode before our summer break, I would be amiss not to mention amazing musician Laertes Malkotsis who composed our theme tune and Laurence Parsons who designed our logo. During the break, there might be a bolus episode or two so, keep your ears sharp and don't forget: you can find me on Instagram & Twitter @yourgreeksunday and you can email me with comments, questions or anything you like to discuss that you've heard on this podcast at yourgreeksunday@gmail.com
Here we go! 

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This word first appears in writing in Homer's Epic, The Iliad and it meant 'a saying' , 'an opinion', 'an utterance'. Shortly after, Hesiod came along and used the word to detail the origins of human kind, its gods and heroes. And finally, Aristotle applied it to the plot of theatre plays and storytelling. The word came to English via Latin and around the 1800s was linked to fables and stories with heroic acts and supernatural elements ΜΥΘΟΣ/MYTH

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Sometimes, Greeks seem to have many words for the same thing but to their defence, they had many years of thinking, inventing and applying words to very specific things. So although we've already found the word for 'pebble' in a previous episode, today, we're using another one Κρόκη (Kroke); And combined with the word for 'Lizard' Δίλος (Delos) It gives us the word, the ancient Greeks used for the animal found in the river Nile. As language evolved, the spelling in modern Greek has changed and in English, it's directly from the Latin one ΚΡΟΚΟΔΕΙΛΟΣ/CROCODILE

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Most English words have arrived here either via Latin or Germanic ones. And because it was easier geographically, the ones that originated in Greece are the Latin based ones. But there are some exceptions and today we have one of them. A small pebble in ancient Greece was called Κάλυξ (Calix) and in Latin it was called 'Calx' . However, the word did not go to the French and then English as usual but it rerouted to Germany where they used it for 'limestone'. So, when the word came here and was called 'caelc' in old English, it meant 'the soft, white limestone' found on the South of England and cut in small pieces it was used to mark debt or game scores. The modern spelling of the work is from the 14th century mimicking the Latin one. ΚΑΛΥΞ/CHALK

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This word came to English in 1845 from the French that gave it the specific meaning we use today but: Ακρη (akri)  in both ancient and modern Greek, means 'the edge' of a place, regardless if it's a mountain or a sidewalk and Βαίνειν (venin) is the ancient Greek infinitive for 'walking/Going' so, the one who walks on the edge of any place not just a high one and not only a rope, is an ΑΚΡΟΒΑΤΗΣ/ACROBAT

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Before we begin, I have a little announcement ,the podcast has finally made it to Instagram. It has now its own separate account than my acting one and it has everything , including videos with additional information and fun facts. So, go ahead, give us a follow @yourgreeksunday and I'll see you there! 

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Today's word is also linked to Dionysus as it's supposed to be one of the states his followers found themselves in, but it has a history of its own. Εκ (ek) in ancient and modern Greek is a preposition and means 'from', Ιστημι (istimi) is an ancient greek verb and it means 'I stand/I am in place'. The combined word means 'being out of place' and for the ancient Greeks that also meant being out of touch with yourself and your sanity. In the 14th century , writers of mystical theories, used the word to describe a state where your body was still but your mind and soul contemplated divine issues and that's where it probably got the positive link to euphoria. The word came to English in the 14th century from France through religious texts. ΕΚΣΤΑΣΗ/ECSTASY

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Until I started this podcast, I didn't realise how many English speaking people named things by combining Greek words; either because they thought it would make them look smarter or because the words they chose, were the perfect description for their invention (and sounded smart).In 1787 the painter and inventor Robert Barker, created a 360 degree visual medium, patented under the title 'Apparatus for exhibiting Pictures'. The viewer would stand on a platform in the middle of it and would be surrounded by pictures. In 1789 he also invented its name by putting two Greek words together to describe it. Παν (pan) means 'everything' or 'the whole' and Οραμα (orama) means 'vision' or 'the thing to see' ΠΑΝΟΡΑΜΑ/PANORAMA

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