δόξα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dóḱs(e)h₂, from *deḱ- (“to accept”) (whence δοκέω (dokéō)) or with some other influence directly from δοκέω (dokéō).

The development of the meaning "glory" develops naturally from the classical meaning of "opinion, estimation, repute", especially "good repute, honour, glory". It acquires important religious overtones from its use in the Septuagint to translate כבוד.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dók.sa/ → /ˈðok.sa/ → /ˈðok.sa/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dók.sa/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdok.sa/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðok.sa/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðok.sa/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðok.sa/

Noun

δόξᾰ • (dóxă) f (genitive δόξης); first declension

1. expectation [Homer]
   • Homer, Il. 10.324, Od. 11.344

     οὐδʼ ἀπὸ δόξης "not otherwise than what one expects"

2. opinion, judgement, belief [5th c. BCE]
   • 5th century CE, Stobaeus, Anthology, attributed to Solon (6th c. BCE):

     ἀνθρώπων αἰεὶ δόξαν ἔχειν ἀγαθήν· "a good reputation always from all men"

   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, The Law 4:

     δύο γάρ, ἐπιστήμη τε καὶ δόξα, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἐπίστασθαι ποιέει, τὸ δὲ ἀγνοεῖν· ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐπιστήμη ποιέει τὸ ἐπίστασθαι, ἡ δὲ δόξα τὸ ἀγνοεῖν.

     dúo gár, epistḗmē te kaì dóxa, hôn tò mèn epístasthai poiéei, tò dè agnoeîn; hē mèn oûn epistḗmē poiéei tò epístasthai, hē dè dóxa tò agnoeîn.

     There are two kinds of knowledge: science and opinion, the former produces understanding, the latter ignorance; it is science that gives understanding, whereas opinion results in ignorance.

3. glory, honor, magnificence, praise [5th c. BCE]
   • c. 80 CE, Gospel of Luke 2:14:

     Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ

     Dóxa en hupsístois theôi

     Glory to God in the highest

   • 4th century

     Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι

     Dóxa Patrì kaì Huiôi kaì hagíōi Pneúmati

     Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

4. glory, splendor (especially of the shechinah), theophany, mandorla [3rd c. BCE]
   • c. 80 CE, Gospel of Luke 2:9:

     δόξα κυρίου περιέλαμψεν αὐτούς

     dóxa kuríou periélampsen autoús

     the glory of the Lord shone round about them

5. reputation

Inflection

First declension of ἡ δόξᾰ; τῆς δόξης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δόξᾰ hē dóxă	τὼ δόξᾱ tṑ dóxā	αἱ δόξαι hai dóxai
Genitive	τῆς δόξης tês dóxēs	τοῖν δόξαιν toîn dóxain	τῶν δοξῶν tôn doxôn
Dative	τῇ δόξῃ têi dóxēi	τοῖν δόξαιν toîn dóxain	ταῖς δόξαις taîs dóxais
Accusative	τὴν δόξᾰν tḕn dóxăn	τὼ δόξᾱ tṑ dóxā	τᾱ̀ς δόξᾱς tā̀s dóxās
Vocative	δόξᾰ dóxă	δόξᾱ dóxā	δόξαι dóxai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• δοξάριον (doxárion)
• δοξολογία (doxología)
• δοξοσοφία (doxosophía)
• ἑτερόδοξος (heteródoxos)
• κακόδοξος (kakódoxos)
• ὀρθόδοξος (orthódoxos)
• παράδοξος (parádoxos)

Related terms

• δέχομαι (dékhomai)
• δοκέω (dokéō)
• δόξῐς (dóxĭs)

Further reading

• “δόξα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δόξα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “δόξα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• δόξα 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
• δόξα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• δόξα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “δόξα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1391 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • appearance idem, page 35.
  • attitude idem, page 51.
  • belief idem, page 72.
  • celebrity idem, page 120.
  • character idem, page 125.
  • comment idem, page 147.
  • conjecture idem, page 160.
  • consideration idem, page 163.
  • contention idem, page 167.
  • credit idem, page 183.
  • degree idem, page 206.
  • distinction idem, page 241.
  • dogma idem, page 246.
  • eminence idem, page 268.
  • esteem idem, page 283.
  • estimate idem, page 283.
  • estimation idem, page 283.
  • expectation idem, page 293.
  • fame idem, page 304.
  • fancy idem, page 306.
  • feeling idem, page 313.
  • foreboding idem, page 336.
  • forecast idem, page 336.
  • glory idem, page 363.
  • greatness idem, page 372.
  • guess idem, page 377.
  • honour idem, page 404.
  • idea idem, page 413.
  • illustriousness idem, page 416.
  • imagination idem, page 416.
  • impression idem, page 423.
  • inference idem, page 437.
  • judgment idem, page 465.
  • lustre idem, page 505.
  • merit idem, page 526.
  • name idem, page 550.
  • nobility idem, page 559.
  • note idem, page 562.
  • notion idem, page 562.
  • opinion idem, page 576.
  • pious idem, page 614.
  • point idem, page 623.
  • praise idem, page 631.
  • pre-eminence idem, page 632.
  • prestige idem, page 638.
  • prominence idem, page 653.
  • publicity idem, page 656.
  • rank idem, page 671.
  • reckoning idem, page 679.
  • record idem, page 681.
  • renown idem, page 695.
  • reputation idem, page 699.
  • sentiment idem, page 754.
  • speculation idem, page 800.
  • supposition idem, page 842.
  • surmise idem, page 843.
  • theory idem, page 865.
  • thought idem, page 868.
  • title idem, page 878.
  • view idem, page 951.
• δόξα, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek δόξα (dóxa).

Compare Mariupol Greek дъо́кса (ðóksa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈðo.ksa/
• Hyphenation: δό‧ξα

Noun

δόξα • (dóxa) f (plural δόξες)

1. glory, kudos, fame
2. pride
3. star (of film, pop, etc)
4. halo (on religious paintings)
5. (colloquial) rainbow

Declension

Declension of δόξα

	singular	plural
nominative	δόξα (dóxa)	δόξες (dóxes)
genitive	δόξας (dóxas)	-
accusative	δόξα (dóxa)	δόξες (dóxes)
vocative	δόξα (dóxa)	δόξες (dóxes)

Synonyms

• (fame): φήμη f (fími)
• (halo): φωτοστέφανο n (fotostéfano)
• (rainbow): ουράνιο τόξο n (ouránio tóxo)

Related terms

• αδόξαστος (adóxastos, “unhonoured”)
• άδοξος (ádoxos, “inglorious”)
• δοξάζω (doxázo, “to glorify, to praise”)

Descendants

• → Romanian: doxă

Further reading

• δόξα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language