εἰς

Forms

εἰς (eis) (governs the accusative)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *en-s, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”), and is attested as ἐνς (ens) in Cretan and Argive.^[1][2] It stands beside ἐν (en) as ἐξ (ex) stands beside ἐκ (ek), and was perhaps formed on the model of that pair.^[2][1][3] Both εἰς and ἐς (es) come from the older form, εἰς with compensatory lengthening after the n was lost.^[2][4] Cognate with Latin in.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses both εἰς and ἐς, meaning “into, to”, above all of motion to a place.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The Ionic writers, Herodotus and the Hippocratic corpus, prefer ἐς, as Thucydides does, while Attic prose and comedy usually have εἰς, which Attic inscriptions show from the 4th century BC.^[5] Besides motion, it expressed time (“until, for”), purpose and result (“for, with a view to”), relations with persons (towards, against), and extent or degree.^[7][5] With collective nouns Attic said “to come before the people”, and with verbs of speaking it named the audience.^[5]

In Koine Greek, and in the New Testament, εἰς also takes the place of ἐν (en) for rest in a place.^[7][8] Medieval Greek reduced it to σε and ’ς, and Modern Greek σε (se) continues it, while learned εις (eis) and many compounds with εισ- also survive.^[9][4][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of motion into or to a place, and of time.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses ἐς, and Thucydides keeps ἐς in Attic prose.^[5]
• 4th century BC – Attic inscriptions write εἰς.^[5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament also uses it for being in a place.^[8][7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as σε (se).^[4][9]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with accusative; of place) Into, to; towards, up to; before (an audience).^[5][7]
2. (of time) Until, up to; for (a length of time); at, within.^[7][5]
3. (of purpose or result) For, with a view to; resulting in.^[7]
4. (of persons) Towards, in relation to, against.^[7]
5. (of extent or degree) As far as, up to (a number or amount).^[7][5]
6. (Koine, New Testament) In, at (of rest in a place).^[7][8]

Word family

• εἴσω (eísō)

Related words

• ἐν (en)

Usage notes

Pindar uses the dialect form ἐν (en) with the accusative instead of εἰς.^[7] Hesychius records phrases with it such as εἰς ἅλα “into the sea”.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)