ἐπαινέω

• ἐπαίνημῐ (epaínēmi) — Aeolic
• ἐπαινίω (epainíō) — Laconian

From ἐπῐ́ (epí) +‎ αἰνέω (ainéō, “to approve”).

ἐπαινέω • (epainéō)

1. to approve, applaud, agree, countenance
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.461:

     ὣς ἔφατ’ Ἀτρεΐδης, ἐπὶ δ’ ᾔνεον ἄλλοι Ἀχαιοί.

     hṑs éphat’ Atreḯdēs, epì d’ ḗineon álloi Akhaioí.

     So spake the son of Atreus, and all the Achaeans shouted assent.

   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 4.168:

     σύνθεσιν ταύταν ἐπαινήσαντες οἱ μὲν κρίθεν

     súnthesin taútan epainḗsantes hoi mèn kríthen

     Approving this arrangement, they parted company.

   • 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 1616:

     ὁρᾷς; ἐπαινεῖ χοὖτος.

     horâis? epaineî khoûtos.

     Do you see? He also agrees.

   1. to praise, commend
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.34.5:

        ἥσθη τε ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καμβύσης καὶ ἐπαίνεε τὴν Κροίσου κρίσιν.

        hḗsthē te taûta akoúsas ho Kambúsēs kaì epaínee tḕn Kroísou krísin.

        Cambyses was glad to have heard this, and he praised Croesus' judgement.

      • 620 BCE – 500 BCE, Alcaeus of Mytilene, Collected Works 37A:

        μέγ’ ἐπαίνεντες ἀόλλεες

        még’ epaínentes aóllees

        shouting his praise by their thousands

      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 342:

        τὰ μὲν σ’ ἐπαινῶ κοὐδαμῇ λήξω ποτέ:

        tà mèn s’ epainô koudamêi lḗxō poté:

        I thank you for all this and shall never cease to thank you.

      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.25.2. was the first that was praised at Sparta in this war:

        πρῶτος τῶν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπῃνέθη ἐν Σπάρτῃ.

        prôtos tôn katà tòn pólemon epēinéthē en Spártēi.

      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 118:

        ἀντὶ τῆς ὑπὸ πάντων ἐπαινουμένης

        antì tês hupò pántōn epainouménēs

        in place of the commended by all

   2. to agree or undertake to do
2. to recommend, advise
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 1360:

     τοιούσδ’ ἐπαινεῖς δῆτα σὺ κτᾶσθαι φίλους;

     toioúsd’ epaineîs dêta sù ktâsthai phílous?

     So then, are these the type of friends that you recommend we make?

3. Used to decline an offer or invitation.
   • 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 508:

     κάλλιστ’, ἐπαινῶ

     kállist’, epainô

4. (Rhapsody) to recite

The aorist ἐπῄνεσα (epḗinesa) is sometimes used in Attic in a present sense.

• ἐπαινετέω (epainetéō)
• (recommend): παραινέω (parainéō)

• “ἐπαινέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐπαινέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐπαινέω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐπαινέω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐπαινέω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἐπαινέω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1867 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible