ἀπόστολος

See also: απόστολος and Απόστολος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἀποστέλλω (apostéllō, “I send off”), from ἀπό- (apó-, “from”) + στέλλω (stéllō, “I send”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.pós.to.los/ → /aˈpos.to.los/ → /aˈpos.to.los/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.pós.to.los/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈpos.to.los/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈpos.to.los/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈpos.to.los/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈpos.to.los/

Noun

ᾰ̓πόστολος • (ăpóstolos) m (genitive ᾰ̓ποστόλου); second declension

1. one who is sent
2. messenger, envoy, ambassador

   Synonym: κῆρυξ (kêrux)

3. (biblical) apostle

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ᾰ̓πόστολος; τοῦ ᾰ̓ποστόλου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ᾰ̓πόστολος ho ăpóstolos	τὼ ᾰ̓ποστόλω tṑ ăpostólō	οἱ ᾰ̓πόστολοι hoi ăpóstoloi
Genitive	τοῦ ᾰ̓ποστόλου toû ăpostólou	τοῖν ᾰ̓ποστόλοιν toîn ăpostóloin	τῶν ᾰ̓ποστόλων tôn ăpostólōn
Dative	τῷ ᾰ̓ποστόλῳ tōî ăpostólōi	τοῖν ᾰ̓ποστόλοιν toîn ăpostóloin	τοῖς ᾰ̓ποστόλοις toîs ăpostólois
Accusative	τὸν ᾰ̓πόστολον tòn ăpóstolon	τὼ ᾰ̓ποστόλω tṑ ăpostólō	τοὺς ᾰ̓ποστόλους toùs ăpostólous
Vocative	ᾰ̓πόστολε ăpóstole	ᾰ̓ποστόλω ăpostólō	ᾰ̓πόστολοι ăpóstoloi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἰσαπόστολος (isapóstolos)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ (apostolos)
• → Gothic: 𐌰𐍀𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌿𐍃 (apaustaulus)
• → Hawaiian: ʻapokekolo
• Greek: απόστολος (apóstolos)
• → Latin: apostolus
  • Asturian: apóstol
  • Breton: abostol
  • Catalan: apòstol
  • Cornish: abostol
  • English: apostle
  • Friulian: apuestul
  • Galician: apóstolo
  • Italian: apostolo
  • → Middle Dutch: apostel
    • Dutch: apostel
  • → Old English: apostol, postol (apheresis)
    • Middle English: apostol, apostel
  • Old French: apostle
    • French: apôtre
      • Haitian Creole: apòt
    • Norman: apôtre
  • → Old Frisian: apostol
    • West Frisian: apostel
    • → Old Norse: postuli, postoli
      • Icelandic: postuli
  • → Old High German: apostolo
    • German: Apostel
  • Old Irish: apstal
    • Irish: aspal
    • Manx: ostyl
    • Scottish Gaelic: abstol, ostal
  • → Old Polish: apostoł
    • → Polish: apostoł
  • Portuguese: apóstolo
  • Sicilian: apòstulu
  • Spanish: apóstolo, apóstol
  • Welsh: abostol, abostl
• → Lingala: apɔ́stɔlɔ
• → Old Church Slavonic: апостолъ (apostolŭ)
  • → Romanian: apostol
  • → Russian: апо́стол (apóstol)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: àpostol, а̀постол
  • → Ukrainian: апо́стол (apóstol)
• → Aghwan: 𐕆𐔴𐔱𐔼𐔺𐔰𐔺𐕒 (hebiyayo) (calque)
• → Old Armenian: առաքեալ (aṙakʻeal) (calque)

Further reading

• “ἀπόστολος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀπόστολος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀπόστολος 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
• ἀπόστολος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• G652 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.
  • expedition idem, page 293.
  • fleet idem, page 327.