Graphe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A formal written charge brought in ancient Athens against someone accused of a public wrong, lodged before a court by a citizen
2. In classical Athenian law, a written public indictment that a citizen filed to prosecute an offense against the state or community
3. The name for a type of public legal action in ancient Athens, in which a citizen formally accused another of a crime against society

Etymology: In ancient Athens, a "graphē" was a formal written charge, a public suit that any citizen could bring against someone accused of a serious wrong. Socrates faced one for impiety, and the case was argued before a jury in court. The noun comes from the verb "graphein," meaning to write, but the same root also covered scratching, drawing, and painting. That broader sense explains the English words "graphic" and "graph," and the "-graph" ending in "autograph," from "autographos," meaning written by one's own hand.