Apoleia
/ˌæpəˈliːə/noun
A Greek theological term meaning destruction, ruin, or perdition.
Did you know?In the New Testament, apoleia can describe final ruin or perdition, while its related verb is used for both destruction and the loss of something valuable.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ol-
“To destroy or cause to perish; the deeper Indo-European origin is traditionally reconstructed but remains debated.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἀπόλλυμι (apóllumi)
“To destroy, kill, lose, or cause to perish.”
Classical Greek
Greek
ἀπώλεια (apṓleia)
“Destruction, loss, ruin, or perdition; literally a state resulting from perishing.”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Koine Greek
ἀπώλεια (apṓleia)
“Destruction or ruin, including spiritual or eschatological destruction in Jewish-Greek religious writing.”
1st Century CE
New Testament Greek
apṓleia
“Perdition, destruction, or a disastrous fate; used in passages concerning the fate of the wicked.”
Modern English
English
apoleia
“A transliteration used mainly in biblical, theological, and scholarly contexts for destruction or perdition.”
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