ἐν

See also: εν, ἐν-, ἕν, ἔν, and Appendix:Variations of "en"

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἐνῐ́ (ení), ἐνῑ́ (enī́), ἔνι (éni), εἰν (ein), εἰνῐ́ (einí) — Epic, as necessary for meter
• ἔν (én) — accented
• ἐμ (em)
• ἰν (in)

Etymology

PIE word
*h₁én

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”), 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

 

• IPA^(key): /en/ → /en/ → /en/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /en/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /en/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /en/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /en/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /en/

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 [eŋ] if the next word began in a velar (γ, κ, ξ, χ).

Preposition

ἐν • (en) (governs the dative, genitive, and accusative)

1. (location) (with dative) in, on, at; (with dative plural) among
   1. (elliptical, with genitive) in the house or the land of
   2. 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

        [Poseidon answering Iris:]
        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.

2. (time) in, at, or during the time of

Derived terms

• ἐν- (en-) & compounds

Descendants

• Greek: εν (en)

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^[1], 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)

1. Polytonic spelling of εν (en, “in”)