γιγνώσκω

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• γῑνώσκω (gīnṓskō) — Epic, Ionic, Koine

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵiǵneh₃-, the reduplicated present stem of *ǵneh₃-, with -σκω (-skō).

Cognates include English know, Latin gnōscō, Albanian njoh, Old Armenian ճան- (čan-, “to know”), Sanskrit जानाति (jānāti, “to know”), and Old Persian 𐎧𐏁𐎴𐎿𐏃𐎡𐎹 (x-š-n-s-h-i-y /⁠xšnāsāhiy⁠/, “you shall know”).

Pronunciation

Verb

γιγνώσκω • (gignṓskō)

1. to be aware of; to perceive, observe, know, learn
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 18.270
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 3.15
   1. to know, understand
   2. to distinguish, discern
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.128
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.185
   3. (with genitive) to be aware of
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.36
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 16.3
   4. (followed by relative clauses) to perceive
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.209
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 22.10
      • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 1095
      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 104
      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 379
      • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 143
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.266
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 60D
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 15.532
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.25
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 807
      • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 658
      • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Collected Works 133.20
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.2.17
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.7.4
2. (in prose) to observe, form a judgment, judge, determine, think
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.2
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 2.3.38
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 5.9.19
   • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Against the Corn Dealers 2
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, First Philippic 1
   • 349 BCE, Demosthenes, First Olynthiac 19
   • 342 BCE – 290 BCE, Menander 572
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 2.3.15
   • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 505C
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 36
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1221
   • 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 883
   1. (passive voice, of persons) to be judged guilty
      • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 7
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric to Alexander 16.2
   2. (perfect passive with active sense)
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 228
3. to know carnally, have sex with
   • 342 BCE – 290 BCE, Menander, 558 5
   • Heraclides, On Politics 64
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Genesis 4.1
   • 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 1:25
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Galba 9

Inflection

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• εἴδω (eídō)

References

• “γιγνώσκω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γιγνώσκω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “γιγνώσκω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• γιγνώσκω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• γιγνώσκω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• γιγνώσκω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)