ἐπιούσιος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. Ultimately either from ἐπῐ́ (epí, “on”) +‎ εἶμῐ (eîmi, “go, come”) or from ἐπῐ́ (epí, “on”) +‎ εἰμῐ́ (eimí, “be”). Possible etymologies include:

1. From the phrase ἡ ἐπῐοῦσᾰ ἡμέρᾱ (hē epioûsa hēmérā, “the following day”), essentially breaking down into ἐπῐοῦσᾰ (epioûsa, “next, following”) +‎ -ῐος (-ios, adjectival suffix), where ἐπῐοῦσᾰ (epioûsa) is the feminine nominative singular of ἐπῐών (epiṓn) the present participle of ἔπειμῐ (épeimi) (“follow, come after”) from ἐπ- (ep-, “on”) +‎ εἶμῐ (eîmi, “go, come”).
2. From the phrase ἐπὶ τὴν οὖσᾰν ἡμέρᾱν (epì tḕn oûsan hēmérān, “for the actual/current day, lit. for the day being”), essentially breaking down into ἐπῐ- (epi-, “on”) +‎ οὖσᾰ (oûsa, “being, actual”) +‎ -ῐος (-ios, adjectival suffix), where οὖσᾰ (oûsa) is the feminine nominative singular of ὤν (ṓn), the present participle of εἰμῐ́ (eimí) (“be”).
3. From ἐπῐ- (epi-, “on”) +‎ οὐσῐ́ᾱ (ousíā, “essence, existence, substance”) +‎ -ῐος (-ios, adjectival suffix), cognate with ἐπουσῐ́ᾱ (epousíā, “surplus”) from ἐπών (epṓn, “remaining”), the present participle of ἔπειμῐ (épeimi) (“remain, be left over”) from ἐπ- (ep-, “on”) +‎ εἰμῐ́ (eimí, “be”), but a separate Koine innovation of the roots to explain why the iota of ἐπῐ́ (epí) was not dropped.

Not attested outside of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, in the phrase τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπῐούσῐον (tòn árton hēmôn tòn epioúsion), traditionally rendered as "our daily bread".

Adjective

ἐπῐούσῐος • (epioúsios) m or f (neuter ἐπῐούσῐον); second declension

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. for tomorrow, for the future (for possible etymology #1)
   2. daily, sufficient for the day (for possible etymology #2)
   3. essential, necessary, supersubstantial (for possible etymology #3)

Inflection

Second declension of ἐπῐούσῐος; ἐπῐούσῐον (Attic)

Number		Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		ἐπῐούσῐος epioúsios	ἐπῐούσῐον epioúsion		ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō		ἐπῐούσῐοι epioúsioi	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epioúsia
Genitive		ἐπῐουσῐ́ου epiousíou	ἐπῐουσῐ́ου epiousíou		ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epiousíoin	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epiousíoin		ἐπῐουσῐ́ων epiousíōn	ἐπῐουσῐ́ων epiousíōn
Dative		ἐπῐουσῐ́ῳ epiousíōi	ἐπῐουσῐ́ῳ epiousíōi		ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epiousíoin	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epiousíoin		ἐπῐουσῐ́οις epiousíois	ἐπῐουσῐ́οις epiousíois
Accusative		ἐπῐούσῐον epioúsion	ἐπῐούσῐον epioúsion		ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō		ἐπῐουσῐ́ους epiousíous	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epioúsia
Vocative		ἐπῐούσῐε epioúsie	ἐπῐούσῐον epioúsion		ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epiousíō		ἐπῐούσῐοι epioúsioi	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epioúsia
Derived forms		Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
		ἐπῐουσῐ́ως epiousíōs			ἐπῐουσῐώτερος epiousiṓteros			ἐπῐουσῐώτᾰτος epiousiṓtatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: επιούσιος (epioúsios)

See also

• supersubstantialis
• supersubstantial
• насѫщьнъ (nasǫštĭnŭ)

References

• “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἐπιούσιος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• G1967 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• M. Nijman and K. A. Worp. "ΕΠΙΟΥΣΙΟΣ in a documentary papyrus?". Novum Testamentum XLI (1999) 3 (July), p. 231-234.
• B.M. Metzger, "How Many Times Does ΕΠΙΟΥΣΙΟΣ Occur outside The Lord's Prayer?" ExpTimes 69 (1957–58) 52-54.