τε

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• θ’ (th’) — apocopic before a rough breathing
• τ’ (t’) — apocopic before a smooth breathing

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kʷe, from Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe (“and”). Cognates include Mycenaean Greek 𐀤 (qe), Sanskrit च (ca), and Latin -que.

Pronunciation

Particle

τε • (te)

1. (combined with καί) both

Conjunction

τε • (te)

1. and, also or untranslatable
   1. (after each item in a list) and
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.544:

        Τὴν δ’ ἠμείβετ’ ἔπειτα πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

        Tḕn d’ ēmeíbet’ épeita patḕr andrôn te theôn te;

        Then the father of men and gods answered her:

   2. (combined with καί (kaí), untranslatable)
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 75d:

        εἰ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ νυνὶ φίλοι ὄντες βούλοιντο ἀλλήλοις διαλέγεσθαι, δεῖ δὴ πρᾳότερόν πως καὶ διαλεκτικώτερον ἀποκρίνεσθαι.

        ei dè hṓsper egṓ te kaì sù nunì phíloi óntes boúlointo allḗlois dialégesthai, deî dḕ prāióterón pōs kaì dialektikṓteron apokrínesthai.

        But if, like you and I now, they were friends and chose to converse together, it is appropriate to answer in a somewhat more easygoing and conversational manner.

      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.2.7:

        ἐνταῦθα Κύρῳ βασίλεια ἦν καὶ παράδεισος μέγας ἀγρίων θηρίων πλήρης, ἃ ἐκεῖνος ἐθήρευεν ἀπὸ ἵππου, ὁπότε γυμνάσαι βούλοιτο ἑαυτόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἵππους.

        entaûtha Kúrōi basíleia ên kaì parádeisos mégas agríōn thēríōn plḗrēs, hà ekeînos ethḗreuen apò híppou, hopóte gumnásai boúloito heautón te kaì toùs híppous.

        There Cyrus had a palace and a large garden full of wild animals, which he would hunt from a horse, whenever he wanted to exercise himself and his horses.

Usage notes

τε (te) is usually considered to denote a weaker connection than καί (kaí). As an enclitic, it is placed after the word that it connects, or after the first word of a phrase that it connects:

• 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.7:

  [Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν] καὶ [ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς ]

  [Atreḯdēs te ánax andrôn] kaì [ dîos Akhilleús ]

  and

Derived terms

• οἷός τέ εἰμι (hoîós té eimi, “be able”)

References

• “τε”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τε”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• τε in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• τε in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “τε”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G5037 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.
  • and idem, page 29.
  • both . . . and idem, page 90.