Semantikós

Semantikós is a Greek-derived adjective meaning significant or pertaining to signs. Etymologically, it is formed from the root sema- (sign) with the suffix -tikós/-ikos, yielding a sense related to signs, meaning, or significance. In the history of linguistics and philology, semantikós is notable as the etymological predecessor of the English word semantics; the path generally traced is Greek semantikós → Latin semantica → English semantics.

In scholarly usage, forms related to semantikós appear in discussions of signification, meaning, and reference within rhetoric, logic, and early linguistic theory. The concept circles around how signs convey or represent meaning, a concern central to semantics and, more broadly, to theories of meaning in philosophy of language and semiotics. Semantics studies how words and sentences encode meaning, including lexical meaning, compositional interpretation, and truth-conditions; it is often contrasted with pragmatics (meaning in context) and with semiotics (the broader study of signs and sign systems).

In contemporary Greek, the term for the science of meaning is σημασιολογία (simasiología), and semantikós is primarily encountered in historical or etymological discussions rather than everyday usage. The word’s legacy is evident in modern terms such as semantic and semantics, which retain the link to meaning and signs that semantikós originally conveyed.