# σοφιστής
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

From σοφίζω (sophízō, “to become wise”) +‎ -ιστής (-istḗs), from σοφός (sophós, “wise”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /so.pʰis.tɛ̌ːs/ → /so.ɸisˈtis/ → /so.fisˈtis/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /so.pʰis.tɛ̌ːs/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /so.pʰisˈte̝s/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /so.ɸisˈtis/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /so.fisˈtis/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /so.fisˈtis/

### Noun

σοφῐστής • (sophĭstḗs) m (genitive σοφῐστοῦ); first declension (Attic, Ionic, Koine)
* A master of one's craft
* One who is wise, prudent, a philosopher
* teacher, tutor
* (slang, derogatory) One who makes a profit off of false wisdom: cheat, swindler

#### Usage notes

The reputation of the teachers at Athens came into decline in the fifth century BC, and thus came the connotation of cheat. This varies with time in relation to the general approval or disapproval of the paid teachers.

#### Coordinate terms

* σοφῐ́στρῐᾰ f (sophĭ́strĭă)

#### Derived terms

* ἀκᾰτᾰσόφῐστος (akătăsóphĭstos, “not to be put down by fallacies”)
* ἀντισοφῐστής m (antisophĭstḗs, “who seeks to refute”)
* ἀσόφῐστος (asóphĭstos, “not deluded by fallacies”)
* γυμνοσοφῐσταί m pl (gumnosophĭstaí, “naked philosophers, gymnosophists”)
* γυμνοσοφῐστῐ́ᾱ f (gumnosophĭstĭ́ā, “wisdom of gymnosophists”)
* Δειπνοσοφισταί m pl (Deipnosophistaí, “title of work by Athenaeus”)
* δειπνοσοφῐστής m (deipnosophĭstḗs, “learned in the mysteries of the kitchen”)
* ἰᾱτροσοφῐστής m (iātrosophĭstḗs, “professor of medicine”)
* ἰᾱτροφῐλόσοφος m (iātrophĭlósophos, “scientific doctor”)
* μεγᾰλοσοφῐστής m (megălosophĭstḗs, “great sophist”)
* μετεωροσοφῐστής m (meteōrosophĭstḗs, “astronomical sophist”)
* σοφῐστορήτωρ m (sophĭstorḗtōr, “sophist-orator”)
* ῠ̔περσοφῐστής m (hŭpersophĭstḗs, “arch-sophist”)
* ψευδοσοφῐστής m (pseudosophĭstḗs, “sham-sophist”)

#### Related terms

* ἀκᾰτᾰσόφῐστος (akătăsóphĭstos, “not to be put down by fallacies”)
* ἀσόφῐστος (asóphĭstos, “not deluded by fallacies”)
* σοφῐστείᾱ f (sophĭsteíā, “sophistry”)
* σοφῐστέον (sophĭstéon, “one must contrive”)
* σοφῐστέος (sophĭstéos, “one must contrive”)
* σοφῐ́στευμᾰ n (sophĭ́steumă, “skill, method”)
* σοφῐστεύω (sophĭsteúō, “play the sophist; teach, give lectures”)
* σοφῐστήρῐον n (sophĭstḗrĭon, “school of sophistry”)
* σοφῐστῐάω (sophĭstĭáō, “play the sophist”)
* σοφῐστῐκός (sophĭstĭkós, “of a sophist”)

#### Descendants

* Greek: σοφιστής (sofistís)
* → Arabic:
    Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: סופיסטה, סופיסטא, סופיסטיס
    Classical Syriac: ܣܘܿܦܝܺܣܛܳܐ (sōpisṭā), ܣܦܣܛܐ, ܣܘܦܣܛܐ, ܣܦܝܣܛܘܣ
** → Arabic: سَفْسَطَائِيّ (safsaṭāʔiyy)
** → Persian: سوفسطایی (sufestâyi)
* → Latin: sophistēs, sophista (all periods), sofista (Medieval Latin)
** → English: sophist
** → French: sophiste

### Further reading

* “σοφιστής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* σοφιστής in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. casuist idem, page 117.cheat idem, page 127.deceiver idem, page 200.doctor idem, page 245.genius idem, page 357.learned idem, page 483.sage idem, page 731.savant idem, page 735.scholar idem, page 739.sophist idem, page 794.thinker idem, page 867.trickster idem, page 894.wiseacre idem, page 982.