ἄγαν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Per Beekes (Beekes 2010: 8) from the accusative singular *m̥ǵ-éh₂-m of Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“great”), whence μέγας (mégas). For Beekes this form is important evidence for his hysterodynamic inflection type. The long ᾱ might be from another dialect.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /á.ɡaːn/ → /ˈa.ɣan/ → /ˈa.ɣan/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /á.ɡaːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡan/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/

Adverb

ᾰ̓́γᾱν • (ắgān)

1. very much
2. too much, excessively
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.173.2:

     ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐκ ὀρθῶς, σεωυτοῦ προέστηκας, ἐς τὸ ἄγαν φαῦλον προάγων σεωυτόν.

     ô basileû, ouk orthôs, seōutoû proéstēkas, es tò ágan phaûlon proágōn seōutón.

     Oh king, you do not govern yourself rightly, by inducing yourself to too much baseness.

Further reading

• “ἄγαν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄγαν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄγαν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• ἄγαν in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “ἄγαν”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011