Kairos

This article is about the ancient conception of time and opportunity. For the Greek personification of opportunity, see Caerus. For other uses, see Kairos (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kyrios.

Kairos relief, copy of Lysippos, in Trogir (Croatia)
Kairos as portrayed in a 16th-century fresco by Francesco Salviati

Kairos (Ancient Greek: καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right or critical moment'.[1] In modern Greek, kairos also means 'weather' or 'time'.

It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other being chronos (χρόνος). Whereas the latter refers to chronological or sequential time,[2] kairos signifies a good or proper time for action. In this sense, while chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative, permanent nature.[3]

The plural, kairoi (καιροί) means 'the times'. Kairos is a term, idea, and practice that has been applied in several fields including classical rhetoric, modern rhetoric, digital media, Christian theology, and science.

  1. ^ Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon.
  2. ^ Liddel, George; Scott, Robert. "A Greek-English Lexicon". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Definition 2, in particular, references chronological time - dates and years. For example, the reference to Thucydides translates to "but he is somewhat concise and not accurate in his dates." Where "in his dates" is "τοῖς χρόνοις."
  3. ^ "(Dictionary Entry)". Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. Retrieved 2015-07-13.