φθινοπωρινός
phthinopōrinós
G5352 attributive adjective
SILEX Entry
Definition
adjective describing something characteristic of late autumn, particularly with reference to decay, fading, or withering associated with the autumn season. In specific contexts, especially in literary and metaphorical usage, it refers to things that are barren or devoid of substance, analogous to fruit trees stripped bare in late autumn. The term communicates an image of decline or lack of vitality, especially in reference to fruit or trees whose productive season has ended.
Semantic Range
pertaining to late autumn, autumnal, characterized by fading or dropping leaves, barren (of trees or fruit), withered, in a state of seasonal decline
Root / Etymology
Formed from φθίνω (to waste away, to fade, to decline, particularly of plants losing vitality) and ὀπώρα (late summer or early autumn, the time of ripe fruit), thus literally indicating what belongs to the time of fading fruit in autumn. The construction is a compound reflecting these two ideas. Related to φθείρω ('to corrupt, destroy') by root but distinct in sense.
Historical & Contextual Notes
Attested only rarely in Greek literature, this term appears in Jude 1:12 to describe individuals metaphorically as 'autumnal trees'—that is, like trees in late autumn, fruitless and withered, already twice dead and uprooted. The imagery draws on Mediterranean agricultural and seasonal cycles; in autumn, trees not only lose leaves but have ended fruit-bearing. Other Greek texts may use related terms to set autumn in contrast to periods of growth and flourishing. English translations often render the phrase with a sense of barrenness or fruitlessness ('trees whose fruit withereth'), but the word specifically evokes the season of decline, not merely lack of fruit. The semantic nuance of seasonal fading is richer than many English equivalents can comfortably express. It does not refer simply to 'withered' but, more precisely, to a state appropriate to late autumn, emphasizing decline from former productivity. Unique among NT adjectives, φθινοπωρινός is tightly bound to metaphorical discourse and seasonality.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from derivative of (to wane; akin to the base of φθείρω) and ὀπώρα (meaning late autumn); autumnal (as stripped of leaves):--whose fruit withereth.
Root Family
φθινοπωρινός (phthinopōrinos) — late-autumnal, fading, declining, withering, barren
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5352-01 |
φθινοπωρινὰ | phthinoporina | ADJ.A NOM N PL |
autumn | late-autumnal (fading) things | late-autumnal | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5352-01 |
Jude 1:12 | φθινοπωρινὰ | phthinoporina | ADJ.A NOM N PL |
autumn | late-autumnal (fading) things | late-autumnal |