πρεσβύτερος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From πρέσβῠς (présbŭs, “aged”, “elder”) +‎ -τερος (-teros, suffix forming comparative degrees of adjectives). The Christian religious meanings are likely a semantic loan from an Aramaic word, perhaps cognate with Classical Syriac ܩܫܝܫܐ (qaššīšā).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /prez.bý.te.ros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /prezˈby.te.ros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /prezˈβy.te.ros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /prezˈvy.te.ros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /prezˈvi.te.ros/

Adjective

πρεσβῠ́τερος • (presbŭ́teros) m (feminine πρεσβῠτέρᾱ, neuter πρεσβῠ́τερον); first/second declension

comparative degree of πρέσβῠς (présbŭs): older; elder
Antonym: νεώτερος (neṓteros)
very old

Declension

First and second declension of πρεσβῠ́τερος; πρεσβῠτέρᾱ; πρεσβῠ́τερον (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	πρεσβῠ́τερος presbŭ́teros	πρεσβῠτέρᾱ presbŭtérā	πρεσβῠ́τερον presbŭ́teron	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠτέρᾱ presbŭtérā	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠ́τεροι presbŭ́teroi	πρεσβῠ́τεραι presbŭ́terai	πρεσβῠ́τερᾰ presbŭ́teră
Genitive	πρεσβῠτέρου presbŭtérou	πρεσβῠτέρᾱς presbŭtérās	πρεσβῠτέρου presbŭtérou	πρεσβῠτέροιν presbŭtéroin	πρεσβῠτέραιν presbŭtérain	πρεσβῠτέροιν presbŭtéroin	πρεσβῠτέρων presbŭtérōn	πρεσβῠτέρων presbŭtérōn	πρεσβῠτέρων presbŭtérōn
Dative	πρεσβῠτέρῳ presbŭtérōi	πρεσβῠτέρᾳ presbŭtérāi	πρεσβῠτέρῳ presbŭtérōi	πρεσβῠτέροιν presbŭtéroin	πρεσβῠτέραιν presbŭtérain	πρεσβῠτέροιν presbŭtéroin	πρεσβῠτέροις presbŭtérois	πρεσβῠτέραις presbŭtérais	πρεσβῠτέροις presbŭtérois
Accusative	πρεσβῠ́τερον presbŭ́teron	πρεσβῠτέρᾱν presbŭtérān	πρεσβῠ́τερον presbŭ́teron	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠτέρᾱ presbŭtérā	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠτέρους presbŭtérous	πρεσβῠτέρᾱς presbŭtérās	πρεσβῠ́τερᾰ presbŭ́teră
Vocative	πρεσβῠ́τερε presbŭ́tere	πρεσβῠτέρᾱ presbŭtérā	πρεσβῠ́τερον presbŭ́teron	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠτέρᾱ presbŭtérā	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠ́τεροι presbŭ́teroi	πρεσβῠ́τεραι presbŭ́terai	πρεσβῠ́τερᾰ presbŭ́teră
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	πρεσβῠ́τερον presbŭ́teron			—			—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Noun

πρεσβῠ́τερος • (presbŭ́teros) m (genitive πρεσβῠτέρου); second declension

(masculine) the older or elder (of two people)
Coordinate term: πρεσβῠτέρᾱ f (presbŭtérā)

Antonym: νεώτερος (neṓteros)
an old man
a forefather
a teacher or master
Synonym: δῐδᾰ́σκᾰλος (dĭdắskălos)
presbyter; elder (a term of rank or office):
1. (Judaism) a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin
2. (Christianity):
  1. (Koine, biblical) in the New Testament, a member of a council that presided over the assemblies or congregations
  2. (Koine, early Christianity) a church elder and community leader who assists the local bishop
  3. (Byzantine) a priest
3. a Roman senator

Declension

Second declension of ὁ πρεσβῠ́τερος; τοῦ πρεσβῠτέρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ πρεσβῠ́τερος ho presbŭ́teros	τὼ πρεσβῠτέρω tṑ presbŭtérō	οἱ πρεσβῠ́τεροι hoi presbŭ́teroi
Genitive	τοῦ πρεσβῠτέρου toû presbŭtérou	τοῖν πρεσβῠτέροιν toîn presbŭtéroin	τῶν πρεσβῠτέρων tôn presbŭtérōn
Dative	τῷ πρεσβῠτέρῳ tōî presbŭtérōi	τοῖν πρεσβῠτέροιν toîn presbŭtéroin	τοῖς πρεσβῠτέροις toîs presbŭtérois
Accusative	τὸν πρεσβῠ́τερον tòn presbŭ́teron	τὼ πρεσβῠτέρω tṑ presbŭtérō	τοὺς πρεσβῠτέρους toùs presbŭtérous
Vocative	πρεσβῠ́τερε presbŭ́tere	πρεσβῠτέρω presbŭtérō	πρεσβῠ́τεροι presbŭ́teroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

→ Latin: presbyter (see there for further descendants)
→ Russian: пресви́тер (presvíter)

References

^ Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886), Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 275
^ Heever, Gerhard van den (2016), “Early Christian discourses and literature in North African Christianities in the context of Hellenistic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture”, in Bongmba, Elias Kiphon, editor, The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa, Milton Park: Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 67
^ Kloppenborg, John S. (2011), “Greco-Roman Thiasoi, the Ekklēsia at Corinth, and Conflict Management”, in Cameron, Ron, Miller, Merrill P., editors, Rediscribing Paul and the Corinthians, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, →ISBN, pages 191–204
^ Rudolph, Wilhelm (1922), Die Abhängigkeit des Qorans von Judentum und Christentum (in German), Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, page 7
^ Tubach, Jürgen (2015), “Aramaic Loanwords in Gǝʿǝz”, in Butts, Aaron Michael, editor, Semitic Languages in Contact (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics; 82), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 358–359

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Noun

Declension

Descendants

References

Further reading