Words & WritingGreek → English
Poet
/ˈpoʊɪt/noun
A person who writes poetry.
The Greek roots
ποιητής
poiētḗs
maker, craftsman
Literally: “one who makes”
Follow a root:ποιητής1 word
The story of the word
The agent noun from ποιεῖν, to make. In classical usage a ποιητής could be the maker of a law or a constitution as easily as of verses, and the specialised sense had to be carried by context. Athenians called Homer simply the poet, with no name attached, in the way an English speaker might once have said the Book.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
poempoetryonomatopoeiamythopoeic
In a sentence
Her father was a poet in the way that some people are sailors: rarely, and completely.