ἕνεκα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἕνεκ’ (hének’) — apocopic
• ἕνεκεν (héneken)
• εἵνεκα (heíneka) — Ionic, Poetic
• εἵνεκεν (heíneken) — Ionic, Poetic
• ἕνεκε (héneke)
• ἕννεκα (hénneka) — Aeolic

Etymology

Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀚𐀏 (e-ne-ka); otherwise Pre-Greek. Formerly thought a composite of ἕν (hén) and *ϝέκα (*wéka) (see: ἑκών (hekṓn)). However no trace of ϝ is seen in the Mycenaean Linear B record.

Pronunciation

Postposition

ἕνεκᾰ • (héneka)

1. (with genitive)
   1. on account of, for the sake of, because of
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.89
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.214
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.110
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 20.21
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 5.8.13
      • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 10
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 31C
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.35
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.40
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 5.1.17
      • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Lysis 218E
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 185B
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 194A.27
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1059A.35
   2. with regard to, as far as regards, as for
      • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, The Acharnians 386
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 14
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.42
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.122
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 548D
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 329B
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 582D
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.3.3
   3. (pleonastic)
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 554
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.92
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 2.4.31
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 701D

Derived terms

Conjunction

ἕνεκᾰ • (héneka)

1. because
   • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 199
   • 310 BCE – 240 BCE, Callimachus, Aetia 3.1.6
2. that
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Isthmian Ode 8.35

Further reading

• “ἕνεκα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἕνεκα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἕνεκα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἕνεκα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἕνεκα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἕνεκα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἕνεκα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • about idem, page 2.
  • account idem, page 7.
  • as idem, page 42.
  • because of idem, page 68.
  • behalf idem, page 71.
  • concern idem, page 155.
  • consequence idem, page 162.
  • depend idem, page 211.
  • far idem, page 306.
  • for idem, page 334.
  • reason idem, page 676.
  • sake idem, page 732.
  • score idem, page 740.
  • view idem, page 951.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN