Philip

Saint Philip
Feast Day: May 3

One of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, he is mentioned only by name in the first three gospels, but he does get some speaking parts in the book of John. He hails from Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee and was probably a follower of John the Baptist.

Little is known of him following Jesus' resurrection, though it is thought he preached the gospel in Scythia. Early legends often confused him with Philip the Deacon, one of the seven deacons of the early Christian church. He may have been crucified.

A name of Greek origin. As most ancient names, it has a meaning.

The name Philip consists of two Greek words.

• The first part of the name is the same phil we can find in such words as philosophy, philately, philanthropy, philanderer, Philadelphia, etc, usually translated as love, dear, lover, depending on the context.
• The second part is perhaps less obvious because the "famous" version of the word starts with the letter h, which becomes silent in Philip. It is the Greek word hippos, which we know from such words as hippodrome, eohippus, hippopotamus, and Hippocrates. The word hippos means horse.

When we put the two words together, we get the meaning of Philip as one who loves horses. That would indicate that in the Hellenic world the name Philip was most likely to be given to sons of nobles and warriors to whom a good horse often meant the difference between being killed in battle and getting out of danger.

Phil"ip (?), n. [So called from their notes.] Zool. (a)

The European hedge sparrow.

(b)

The house sparrow. Called also phip.

[Prov. Eng.]

 

© Webster 1913.