ἐνέργεια : ENERGY: WORKING

Illustrations of English words
derived from the Greek in the New Testament.

By Gaylon West.



G1753 STRONG'S DICTIONARY: energeia en-erg'-i-ah
From G1756; "efficiency (“energy”): - operation, strong, (effectual) working."

ETYMOLOGY: (English) energy (n.)
1590s, "force of expression," from Middle French Ἐnergie (16c.), from Late Latin energia, from Greek energeia "activity, action, operation," from energos "active, working," from en "at" (see en- (2)) + ergon "work, that which is wrought; business; action" (see organ).
Used by Aristotle with a sense of "actuality, reality, existence" (opposed to "potential")* ...
      .. but this was misunderstood in Late Latin and afterward as "force of expression," as the power which calls up realistic mental pictures. Broader meaning of "power" in English is first recorded 1660s. Scientific use is from 1807. Energy crisis first attested 1970

* in the Koine then, the power "exists" and should actually be "working"!