# στοιχεῖον
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

στοῖχος (stoîkhos) +‎ -εῖον (-eîon)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /stoi̯.kʰêː.on/ → /styˈçi.on/ → /stiˈçi.on/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /stoi̯.kʰêː.on/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /styˈkʰi.on/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /styˈçi.on/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /styˈçi.on/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /stiˈçi.on/

### Noun

στοιχεῖον • (stoikheîon) n (genitive στοιχείου); second declension
* (properly) one of a row:
** (in the sun-dial) the shadow of the gnomon, which advances regularly hour after hour
*** 391 BCE, Aristophanes, Assemblywomen 652
*** 4th century BC, Eubulus, Incert. 1
*** 362 BCE – 262 BCE, Philemon, ap. Phot.
* (generally) one of a series, a component part, an element:
** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3.1
** 350 BCE, Aristotle, On the Heavens 3.3.1
** a simple sound of the voice, as the first element of language; an elementary sound, as distinct from a letter (γράμμα, grámma)
*** 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 424d
*** 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 426d
*** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 202e
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Poët. 20.2
** (physics, usually in the plural) any one of the component parts of matter, an element
*** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 201e
*** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, The Statesman 278c
*** 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 48b
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption 1.8.3
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 2.3.2
*** 3rd century CE, Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 3.24
*** Bentl., Phal. 523
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Meteorology 1.1.1
*** Thales, ap. Plut. 2.875d
*** Anaxim., ap. Diog. L. 2.1
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 1.5.6
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 12.10.5
*** (Aristotelianism) the material cause of a thing, as opposed to the formal or motive cause (ἀρχή, arkhḗ)
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.1.1
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3.1
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 6.17.2
**** Orph., H. 4.4
**** Babr. 71.4
** (in the plural) the elements of knowledge and the sciences
*** (geometry) points, lines, surfaces
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Categories 12.3
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3
*** (arithmetic) units
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3
*** (grammar) parts of speech
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Poët. 20.1
**** 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, de Comp. 2
*** (logic) the major premises of syllogisms
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.3.3
*** (rhetoric) commonplaces
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 1.6.1
**** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 2.22.13
** (generally) a simple or elementary principle
*** Xea., Mem. 2.1.1
*** 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Collected Works 18a
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 5.9.5
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1.9.12
*** Nicol., Incert. 1.30
** (in later writers) a planet
*** Eccl.
*** Vales. ad Eus., H.E. 3.31
*** Manetho 4.624
*** (especially) a sign of the Zodiac
**** 3rd century CE, Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 6.102

#### Synonyms

* (physics: component part of matter, element): ἀρχή (arkhḗ) (in Thales and Anaximenes, but not in Aristotle), ῥίζωμᾰ (rhízōmă) (Empedoclean)
* (sign of the Zodiac): στοιχειώμᾰτᾰ n pl (stoikheiṓmătă)

#### Derived terms

* κᾰτᾰ̀ στοιχεῖον (kătằ stoikheîon)
* Στοιχείᾰ (Stoikheíă)
* στοιχειᾰκός (stoikheiăkós)
* στοιχειογρᾰφέω (stoikheiogrăphéō)
* στοιχειοκρᾰ́τωρ (stoikheiokrắtōr)
* στοιχειολάτρης (stoikheiolátrēs)
* στοιχειολογῐ́ᾱ (stoikheiologĭ́ā)
* στοιχειόω (stoikheióō)
* στοιχειώδης (stoikheiṓdēs)
* στοιχείωμᾰ (stoikheíōmă)
* στοιχείωσῐς (stoikheíōsĭs)
* στοιχειωτής (stoikheiōtḗs)
* στοιχειωτῐκός (stoikheiōtĭkós)
* στοιχειωτός (stoikheiōtós)

#### Descendants

* Greek: στοιχειό (stoicheió)
* → Greek: στοιχείο (stoicheío)
* →? Albanian: stihji
* → Classical Syriac: ܐܣܛܘܟܣܐ (ˀesṭuksā)
** → Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܸܣܛܘܼܟ݂ܣܵܐ (isṭuḵsā) (learned)
* → Latin: stoechīon
* → Old Georgian: სტჳქისი (sṭwikisi)
* → Old Church Slavonic: стѵхии m (stüxii), стѵхиꙗ f (stüxija), стѵхиѥ n (stüxije)
** → Old East Slavic: стихия (stixija)
*** → Belarusian: стыхі́я (styxíja)
*** → Russian: стихи́я (stixíja)
*** → Ukrainian: стихі́я (styxíja)
*** → Romanian: stihie
*** → South Slavic: stihija

### References

* “στοιχεῖον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* στοιχεῖον 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
* G4747 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. sundial idem, page 838.
* στοιχεῖον, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011