ὀπίσω

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὀπίσσω (opíssō) — Ionic

Etymology

The usual explanation is to regard the base *ὀπί- (*opí-) < Proto-Hellenic *opí, *opi- < Proto-Indo-European *opí, as an ablaut variant of ἐπί (epí), ἐπι- (epi-) (from Proto-Indo-European *epí).^[1]^[2] Compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀃𐀠 (o-pi, “on”), Luwian (/⁠appi⁠/, “back”), Latin op- (“upon”) (in for example operio (“to cover”)), Lithuanian api- (“about”).

Dunkel instead derives ὀπίσσω (opíssō) < Proto-Hellenic *opissō < Proto-Indo-European *op-ityo-o (“back, later”, adverb), from Proto-Indo-European *op-ityo- (“hindmost, rear”, adjective). Compare Hittite (appezziya, “later”, adverb) and (appezziya-, “hindmost, rear”, adjective). The base is thus Proto-Indo-European *óp, an ablaut variant of *áp (“away, back, after”, adverb), compare Latin ab (“away, from”), which fits much better semantically.^[3]^[4]

For the suffix compare πρόσσω (próssō), περισσός (perissós), εἴσω (eísō), and μέτασσαι (métassai, “those born later”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.pí.sɔː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈpi.so/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈpi.so/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈpi.so/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈpi.so/

Adverb

ὀπίσω • (opísō)

(of place) backwards
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 12.272
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.218
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.443
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 16.710
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 11.149
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.207
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 528A
- 500 BCE – 400 BCE, Bacchylides, Collected Works 12.53
- 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Joel 2.20
back, back again, by the same way one took
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 7.326
- 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 3.62
- 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 25.74
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.62
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.120
again
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.14
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.92
- 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 38
(of time) hereafter
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.160
- 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 741
- 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 488
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 20.199
- 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1104
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.352
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 11.483
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.343
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.109
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 18.250
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 24.452
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1000A.30
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 488
following, yet to come
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.75

Derived terms

ἐξοπίσω (exopísō)
ὄπισθεν (ópisthen)
ὀπισθόδομος (opisthódomos)
ὀπίστατος (opístatos)

Related terms

κατόπιν (katópin)
ὀψέ (opsé)

Descendants

Greek: πίσω (píso)

Preposition

ὀπίσω • (opísō) (governs the genitive)

after
- 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 4:19

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὄπισθεν (> DER > Further ὀπίσ(σ)ω)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1091
^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “ὀπίσω”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pages 403-4
^ Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), volume 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 70
^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) “āppa”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

ὀπίσω

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