LOGOI

The corpus record

οὐσί-α

ousia

property, homestead; being, presence, existence, reality, substance

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 56 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. οὐσία · ousia — Beekes

οὐσία [f.] ‘property, homestead; being, presence, existence, reality, substance’ (Att.). IE *h,s-ont- ‘being’> eVAR Ion. -in, Dor. ὡσία. “ὍΟΜΡ Often with prefix (from ἄπ-ειμι, etc.), eg. ἀπ-, ἐξ-, μετ-, map-, ovv-ovoia, -in (mostly Att.). Compounds ἐξ-ούσιος ‘bereft of property’ (Ph.), ὑπερ-ούσιος ‘above being’, μετ-ούσιος ‘below being’ (Them., comm. Arist., etc.). eDER ovo-idiov [n.] ‘small property’, -ἰότης [f.] … — [Beekes, s.v. οὐσία, p. 1182]

2. οὐσία · ousia — Chantraine

οὐσία : f., ion. -ἔη, dor. ὠσία (Archyt.), ἐσσία (PL, Cra. 401 c, créé sur f. ἔσσα du part. ἔντες), voir s.u. εἰμί, Remarques chez Collinge, Οἱ. 49, 1971, 218-229. — [Chantraine, s.v. οὐσία, p. 857]

3. οὐσία · ousia — Frisk

οὐσία (att.), ion. -in f., dor. ὠσέα f. “Wesen, Anwesen, Eigentum, Sein, Wirklichkeit, Substanz’ (zur Bed. Hirzel Phil. 72, 42ff.); oft m. Präfix (von ἄπ-ειμι usw.), 2. Β. ἀπ-, ἐξ-, μετ-, παρ-, συνουσία, -in (meist att.). Kompp. ἐξ-ούσιος "des Eigentums beraubt’ (Ph.), ὕπερ-. μετ-ούσιος “über, bzw. nach dem Sein stehend’ (Them., Arist-.Komm. u.a.). — Ableitungen, meist sp.: οὐσ-ἔδιον τι, “kleines Eigentum’, -ἰότης … — [Frisk, s.v. οὐσία, p. 1421]

4. οὐσί-α · ousi-a — LSJ

that which is oneʼs own, oneʼs substance, property, substance, property, immovables, estates

that which is oneʼs own, oneʼs substance, property, Hdt. ll.cc., S. Tr. 911 (s. v. l.), E. HF 337, Hel. 1253 (pl., Fr. 354 (s. v. l.)), Ar. Ec. 729, Lys. 18.17, Pl. R. 551b, SIG l.c., etc.; opp. τὰ σώματα (civil status), And. 1.74; καλῶς . . ἐπεμελήθη τῶν οὐσιῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δημάρχου BSA 24.154 (Attica, iv B.C.); εἰ ἐκεκτήμην οὐ. if I had been a man of substance, Lys. 24.11; ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐ. δαπανᾶν Diph. 32.7; πατρῴαν οὐ. κατεσθίειν Anaxipp. 1.32, cf. Critias 45 D.; φανερὰ οὐσία real property, immovabl

II stable being, immutable reality, being

in Philos., like Ion. φύσις (with which it is interchanged in various uses, e. g. Philol. 11, Pl. R. 359a, 359b, Arist. PA 646a25, Thphr. HP 6.1.1), stable being, immutable reality, opp. γένεσις, ὅτιπερ πρὸς γένεσιν οὐσία, τοῦτο πρὸς πίστιν ἀλήθεια Pl. Ti. 29c, cf. Sph. 232c; ὧν κίνησις γένεσιν παραλαβοῦσα ἀέναον οὐ. ἐπόρισεν Id. Lg. 966e; γένεσις μὲν τὸ σπέρμα, οὐ. δὲ τὸ τέλος Arist. PA 641b32, cf. 640a18, etc.; ὁδὸς εἰς οὐσίαν Id. Metaph. 1003b7: hence, being in the abstract, opp. non-being (τ

2 substance, essence

substance, essence, opp. πάθη (ʼmodesʼ), Id. Euthphr. 11a; πάθη οὐσίας Arist. Metaph. 1003b7; opp. συμβεβηκότα (ʼaccidentsʼ), Id. APo. 83a24, PA 643a27; ἡ φύσις [τῆς ψυχῆς] καὶ ἡ οὐ., εἶθʼ ὅσα συμβέβηκε περὶ αὐτήν Id. de An. 402a8.

3 true nature

true nature of that which is a member of a kind, defined as ὃ τυγχάνει ἕκαστον ὄν Pl. Phd. 65d; as τὸ ὅ ἐστι ib. 92d; as τὸ τί ἐστι Arist. APo. 90b30; τὸ εἶναί τε καὶ τὴν οὐ. Pl. R. 509b; expressed in a formula or definition, ψυχῆς οὐ. τε καὶ λόγον Id. Phdr. 245e; τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι οὗ ὁ λόγος ὁρισμός, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ. λέγεται Arist. Metaph. 1017b22; μόνης τῆς οὐ. ἐστὶν ὁ ὁρισμός ib. 1031a1.

4 substantiality

the possession of such a nature, substantiality, ἔτι ἐπέκεινα τῆς οὐ. πρεσβείᾳ . . ὑπερέχοντος Pl. R. 509b.

5 the primary real, substratum

in the concrete, the primary real, the substratum underlying all change and process in nature, applied by Arist. to the atoms of Democritus, Fr. 208; to τὰ ἁπλᾶ σώματα Id. Cael. 298a29, cf. Metaph. 1017b10; πᾶσαι αἱ φυσικαὶ οὐ. ἢ σώματα ἢ μετὰ σωμάτων γίγνονται Id. Cael. 298b3, al.; ταὐτὸν σῶμα καὶ οὐσίαν ὁριζόμενοι Pl. Sph. 246a; but also, νοητὰ ἄττα καὶ ἀσώματα εἴδη . . τὴν ἀληθινὴν οὐ. ib. b.

6 substance

in Logic, substance as the leading category, Arist. Cat. 1b26, Metaph. 1045b29; αἱ πρῶται οὐ. (individuals), αἱ δεύτεραι οὐ. (species and genera), Id. Cat. 2b5, 2a15 (but ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ἵππος . . οὐκ ἔστιν οὐ. ἀλλὰ σύνολόν τι Id. Metaph. 1035b29, cf. σύνθετος or συνθέτη οὐ. ib. 1043a30, de An. 412a16); ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ οὐ. ἡ πρώτη, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ὕλη Id. Metaph. 1037a5; ἡ ψυχὴ οὐ. ὡς εἶδος Id. de An. 412a19; ἡ οὐ. ἐντελέχεια ib. 21; [ψυχὴ] οὐ. τοῦ ἐμψύχου Id. Metaph. 1035b15; of the abstract objects of

7

after Pl. and Arist. in various uses, as ἡ ἄποιος οὐ., = ἡ ὕλη, Zeno Stoic. 1.24; κατὰ οὐσίαν, opp. κατὰ δύναμιν ἢ ἐνέργειαν, Polystr. p.12 W.; πᾶς νοῦς ἀμέριστός ἐστιν οὐ. Procl. Inst. 171, cf. Plot. 2.4.5, 2.6.1, 4.7.8, 6.1.2, al.

8

Pythag. name for I, Theol.Ar. 6.

III

name of a plaster, Aët. 15.15,45.

IV fire-resisting substances

αἱ οὐ. fire-resisting substances, Zos.Alch. p. 168B.; of the four σώματα (copper, tin, lead, iron), Ps.-Democr. ap. eund. p.167 B.

V a material thing by which a connexion is established between the person to be acted upon and the supernatural agent

in Magic, a material thing by which a connexion is established between the person to be acted upon and the supernatural agent, e.g. a hair, λαβὼν βελόνην διείρων τὴν οὐ. εἰς αὐτήν PMag.Par. 1.2949, cf. PMag.Osl. 1.73; mould from a tomb, PMag.Par. 1.435; κυνοκεφάλου οὐ., . . κυνὸς οὐ., = κόπρος (cf. 2460), ib. 2687, etc.

In the wild

6 of 1,922 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. οὐσία (scan p. 1182; entry #4738).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. οὐσία (scan p. 857; entry #6162).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. οὐσία (scan p. 1421; entry #4422).

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