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ἐν. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ἐν, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ἐν in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ἐν you have here. The definition of the word
ἐν will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ἐν, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *h₁én, cognate with Latin in, Old Armenian ի (i), English in.
The dative is from the PIE locative. The genitive is an innovated Greek associative. The accusative is from the pre-PIE directional.
Pronunciation
The final nasal assimilated to a following stop or nasal, so that the word was pronounced as if it were spelled ἐμ /em/ if the next word began in a labial (β, μ, π, φ, ψ), or ἐγ if the next word began in a velar (γ, κ, ξ, χ).
Preposition
ἐν • (en) (governs the dative, genitive, and accusative)
- (location) (with dative) in, on, at; (with dative plural) among
- (elliptical, with genitive) in the house or the land of
- surrounded by; wearing
800 BCE – 600 BCE,
Homer,
Iliad 15.192:
- Ζεὺς δ’ ἔλαχ’ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἐν αἰθέρι καὶ νεφέλῃσι
- Zeùs d’ élakh’ ouranòn eurùn en aithéri kaì nephélēisi
and Zeus got the wide heaven surrounded by clear air and clouds
Her.,
2 159:
- ἐν τῇ δὲ ἐσθῆτι ἔτυχε ταῦτα κατεργασάμενος, ἀνέθηκε τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι πέμψας ἐς Βραγχίδας τὰς Μιλησίων.
- en têi dè esthêti étukhe taûta katergasámenos, anéthēke tôi Apóllōni pémpsas es Brankhídas tàs Milēsíōn.
- The clothes that he happened to be wearing when he achieved this, Necos dedicated to Apollo and sent to the Branchidae of Miletos.
- (time) in, at, or during the time of
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “ἐν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “ἐν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “ἐν”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- ἐν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- ἐν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- ἐν in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
- “ἐν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G1722 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- ἐν in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- amid idem, page 27.
- among idem, page 27.
- at idem, page 48.
- before idem, page 69.
- count idem, page 177.
- during idem, page 256.
- frequent idem, page 344.
- furthest idem, page 350.
- haunt idem, page 388.
- in idem, page 425.
- involve idem, page 458.
- mid idem, page 527.
- number idem, page 563.
- occupy idem, page 568.
- on idem, page 573.
- quarters idem, page 664.
- reckon idem, page 679.
- study idem, page 829.
Greek
Adverb
ἐν • (en)
- Polytonic spelling of εν (en, “in”)