πίστις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydʰtis, equivalent to πείθω (peíthō, “I persuade”) +‎ -τις (-tis). Compare the later formation, πεῖσῐς (peîsis).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pís.tis/ → /ˈpis.tis/ → /ˈpis.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pís.tis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpis.tis/

Noun

πῐ́στῐς • (pístis) f (genitive πῐ́στεως or πῐ́στῐος); third declension

1. trust in others, faith
2. belief in a higher power, faith
3. the state of being persuaded of something: belief, confidence, assurance
4. trust in a commercial sense: credit
5. faithfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, fidelity
6. that which gives assurance: treaty, oath, guarantee
7. means of persuasion: argument, proof
8. that which is entrusted

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ πῐ́στῐς; τῆς πῐ́στεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ πῐ́στῐς hē pístis	τὼ πῐ́στει tṑ pístei	αἱ πῐ́στεις hai písteis
Genitive	τῆς πῐ́στεως tês písteōs	τοῖν πῐστέοιν toîn pistéoin	τῶν πῐ́στεων tôn písteōn
Dative	τῇ πῐ́στει têi pístei	τοῖν πῐστέοιν toîn pistéoin	ταῖς πῐ́στεσῐ / πῐ́στεσῐν taîs pístesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν πῐ́στῐν tḕn pístin	τὼ πῐ́στει tṑ pístei	τᾱ̀ς πῐ́στεις tā̀s písteis
Vocative	πῐ́στῐ písti	πῐ́στει pístei	πῐ́στεις písteis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ πῐ́στῐς; τῆς πῐ́στῐος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ πῐ́στῐς hē pístis	τὼ πῐ́στῐε tṑ pístie	αἱ πῐ́στῐες hai písties
Genitive	τῆς πῐ́στῐος tês pístios	τοῖν πῐστῐ́οιν toîn pistíoin	τῶν πῐστῐ́ων tôn pistíōn
Dative	τῇ πῐ́στῑ têi pístī	τοῖν πῐστῐ́οιν toîn pistíoin	τῇσῐ / τῇσῐν πῐ́στῐσῐ / πῐ́στῐσῐν têisi(n) pístisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν πῐ́στῐν tḕn pístin	τὼ πῐ́στῐε tṑ pístie	τᾱ̀ς πῐ́στῑς / πῐ́στῐᾰς tā̀s pístīs / pístias
Vocative	πῐ́στῐ písti	πῐ́στῐε pístie	πῐ́στῐες písties
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• πῐστεύω (pisteúō)

Descendants

• Greek: πίστη (písti)
  • → Aromanian: pisti

Further reading

• “πίστις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πίστις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• πίστις 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
• G4102 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.
  • allegiance idem, page 25.
  • assurance idem, page 48.
  • authenticity idem, page 53.
  • belief idem, page 72.
  • bond idem, page 89.
  • confidence idem, page 158.
  • constancy idem, page 164.
  • conviction idem, page 173.
  • credence idem, page 183.
  • credentials idem, page 183.
  • credibility idem, page 183.
  • credit idem, page 183.
  • creed idem, page 183.
  • dependence idem, page 211.
  • earnest idem, page 259.
  • faith idem, page 302.
  • faithfulness idem, page 303.
  • fealty idem, page 312.
  • fidelity idem, page 317.
  • gage idem, page 351.
  • guarantee idem, page 376.
  • honour idem, page 404.
  • loyalty idem, page 503.
  • parole idem, page 593.
  • pledge idem, page 620.
  • plight idem, page 621.
  • positiveness idem, page 628.
  • promise idem, page 653.
  • reliability idem, page 690.
  • reliance idem, page 691.
  • scrupulousness idem, page 743.
  • security idem, page 747.
  • stanchness idem, page 810.
  • steadfastness idem, page 814.
  • surety idem, page 843.
  • troth idem, page 896.
  • trust idem, page 899.
  • trustfulness idem, page 899.
  • trustiness idem, page 899.
  • trustworthiness idem, page 899.
  • undertaking idem, page 914.
  • vow idem, page 958.
  • warrant idem, page 964.
  • word idem, page 987.
• “πίστις”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011