νῦν

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νυν (nun), νυ (nu) — enclitic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Cognate with Lithuanian nù (“now, well now”), Latin num (“now”), Latin nunc (“now, soon, today, nowadays”), Sanskrit नु, नू (nu, nū, “now”), Proto-Germanic *nu (English now) and Albanian nu.

Pronunciation

Adverb

νῦν • (nûn)

1. (of time) now, at this time

   Νῦν δὲ ἄκουσόν μου!

   Nûn dè ákousón mou!

   Now listen to me!

   Νῦν καὶ ἀεί.

   Nûn kaì aeí.

   For ever and ever.

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.272
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.68
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 1.105
   • 500 BCE – 400 BCE, Bacchylides, Collected Works 5.4
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1069A.26
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.6
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 174
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Parmenides 141E
   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 351
   • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 16
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 1295
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 218A.6
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Parmenides 152C
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Genesis 46.30
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Genesis 46.34
   • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 17.110
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.104
   • 430 BCE, Euripides, Herakles' Children 641
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 7.101
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 133
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 506E
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 5.3.42
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians 31.2
   • New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 24:25
   1. (of the recent past) just now
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.439
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.772
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.43
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 84
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.5.48
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 341C
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 13
   2. (constrasting what might have been) as it is, as it stands
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.166
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.126
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 384B
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 195
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 7.4.24
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 7.7.17
2. (not of time, often enclitic)
   1. (used to strengthen or hasten a command, call, etc.)
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 15.115
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.485
      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 82
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 1001
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 149
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 724
      • 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 467
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 430
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 316
      • 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 1056
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 381
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 414
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 87
      • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 644
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 5.3.21
      • 500 BCE – 400 BCE, Bacchylides, Collected Works 18.8
   2. (used to strengthen a question)
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.373
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.414
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 4.31
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.125
      • 1 CE – 200 CE, Aelius Herodianus, On Peculiar Style 2.39
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.485
      • 1 CE – 200 CE, Aelius Herodianus, On Peculiar Style 2.27
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 414
      • 300 BCE – 250 BCE, Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.664
      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 82
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 242
      • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 705
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 324
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 414
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 758
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 922
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 87
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 92
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 468
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1333
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1177
      • 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 56

Descendants

• Greek: νυν (nyn)

References

• “νῦν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νῦν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νῦν”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νῦν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• νῦν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “νῦν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3568 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • as idem, page 42.
  • just idem, page 466.
  • lately idem, page 478.
  • newly idem, page 557.
  • now idem, page 562.
  • present idem, page 636.
  • recently idem, page 678.
  • time idem, page 875.