Kainos

Kainos is an ancient Greek adjective meaning new, fresh, recent, or novel. It is the base form of καϊνός (kainós) in classical and Hellenistic Greek and is used to denote something newly created or of a different kind rather than merely recent in time. The term is often contrasted with neos, which can emphasize temporal recency rather than quality.

In classical Greek, kainos appears in literature to describe new laws, new styles, or newly established states, and it is used to convey a sense of novelty or innovation rather than repetition of the old.

In the Septuagint and the New Testament, kainos or its inflected forms are used to express theological ideas of renewal. The phrase “new covenant” is διαθήκη καινή (diathēkē kainé). Paul uses phrases like καινὴ κτίσις (kainḗ ktísis, “new creation”) to express spiritual renewal through Christ.

In modern usage, kainos remains a standard Greek term for newness and appears in scholarly discussion of philosophy, theology, and literature. It also appears in compound forms and in transliterations used by religious or literary organizations to convey a sense of freshness, reform, or renewal.

Because of its semantic nuance, kainos is sometimes preferred in translation and interpretation when the focus is on qualitative novelty or a transformed state rather than simply the passage of time.