γνῶσις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃tis. By surface analysis, γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “I know”) +‎ -σις (-sis).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡnɔ̂ː.sis/ → /ˈɣno.sis/ → /ˈɣno.sis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡnɔ̂ː.sis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɡno.sis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɣno.sis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈɣno.sis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈɣno.sis/

Noun

γνῶσῐς • (gnôsĭs) f (genitive γνώσεως); third declension

1. inquiry
2. knowledge
3. fame

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ γνῶσῐς; τῆς γνώσεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ γνῶσῐς hē gnôsĭs	τὼ γνώσει tṑ gnṓsei	αἱ γνώσεις hai gnṓseis
Genitive	τῆς γνώσεως tês gnṓseōs	τοῖν γνωσέοιν toîn gnōséoin	τῶν γνώσεων tôn gnṓseōn
Dative	τῇ γνώσει tēî gnṓsei	τοῖν γνωσέοιν toîn gnōséoin	ταῖς γνώσεσῐ / γνώσεσῐν taîs gnṓsesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν γνῶσῐν tḕn gnôsĭn	τὼ γνώσει tṑ gnṓsei	τᾱ̀ς γνώσεις tā̀s gnṓseis
Vocative	γνῶσῐ gnôsĭ	γνώσει gnṓsei	γνώσεις gnṓseis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• ἀνάγνωσις (anágnōsis)
• ἀπόγνωσις (apógnōsis)
• αὐτογνῶσις (autognôsis)
• διάγνωσις (diágnōsis)
• ἐπίγνωσις (epígnōsis)
• κατάγνωσις (katágnōsis)
• μετάγνωσις (metágnōsis)
• παρανάγνωσις (paranágnōsis)
• πρόγνωσις (prógnōsis)
• προδιάγνωσις (prodiágnōsis)
• σύγγνωσις (súngnōsis)
• συνανάγνωσις (sunanágnōsis)

Descendants

• > Pontic Greek: γνώση (gnósi), γνώς’ (gnós’) (inherited)
  • → Laz: ნოსი (nosi), ღნოსი (ğnosi)
• → Coptic: ⲅⲛⲱⲥⲓⲥ (gnōsis)
• → English: gnosis
• → Irish: gnóis
• → Norwegian: gnosis
• → Greek: γνώση (gnósi)

Further reading

• “γνῶσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γνῶσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• γνῶσις 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
• γνῶσις in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• G1108 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • examination idem, page 287.
  • inquiry idem, page 443.
  • investigation idem, page 457.
  • knowledge idem, page 472.
  • theory idem, page 865.