κατά

Forms

κᾰτᾰ́ (katá) (governs the genitive and accusative)^[1] Dialect κάτ, assimilated to the next consonant (κὰδ before δ, κὰκ before κ, κὰπ before π…); elided κατ᾽, and καθ᾽ before a rough breathing.^[2][3] Also καται- in compounds such as καταιβάτης (kataibátēs), an epithet of Zeus, and Arcadian κατύ.^[4][5] It may follow its noun with the accent thrown back (Λυκίην κάτα “in Lycia”).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kətá,^[1] from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *km̥t- “down, with, along”.^[4][6] It is identical with Hittite kattan “below, underneath” and katta “along with”, and the old Celtic word for “with”, Old Welsh cant and Old Irish cét-, probably belongs here too.^[4][5][7] Beekes and Frisk leave open a further link with Indo-European *kom, the source of Latin cum, and Wiktionary reconstructs *ḱm̥-th₂ from *ḱóm “beside, with”.^[4][5][1] The by-forms καται- (katai-) and Arcadian κατύ (katú) are best explained as made on the model of παραί (paraí) and ἀπύ (apú).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

From Homer on it is an adverb and a preposition with the genitive and the accusative.^[4][8][9] Homer uses it with the genitive for movement down from heaven, mountains or horses and down into the earth, and with the accusative for movement down along a stream, over the sea and throughout a city or a camp.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine explains the uses from a general sense of fitting oneself to something: with the accusative “towards, in accordance with”, with the genitive “down from” and “against”.^[7] Greek paired it with ἀνά (aná) as opposites, κατά “downwards” against ἀνά “upwards”, and Homer's adverb κάτα “below” was later replaced by κάτω (kátō).^[7] The genitive developed the hostile sense “against” someone, and the accusative the distributive sense (κατὰ φυλάς “tribe by tribe”, καθ᾽ ἡμέραν “every day”) and the sense of conformity, as in κατὰ φύσιν “naturally” and κατὰ δίκην “justly”.^[2][8]

As a prefix (κατα-) it expresses movement downwards, return, and very often the completion of an action, as in κατακτείνω (katakteínō) “kill outright” and καταφαγεῖν “eat up”.^[7] The Septuagint and the New Testament use both cases often, with the genitive for “down from” and “against” and with the accusative for “according to”.^[11][12] Coptic borrowed it as ⲕⲁⲧⲁ (kata), attested from about AD 200.^[13] Latin borrowed it as cata, and English uses the learned prefix English cata-.^[1][6]

Modern Greek κατά (katá) keeps many of the old uses with the accusative; its use with the genitive for “against” is a learned semantic loan from French contre.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it with the genitive for “down from” and with the accusative for “down along, throughout”.^[2][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it with the accusative for “at or around” a time and “in the time of” someone.^[2][14]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses κατὰ μίαν of ships sailing one by one, in column.^[2][14]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses κατὰ κεφαλήν for “per head”.^[2][14]
• About AD 200 – Coptic borrows it as ⲕⲁⲧⲁ (kata).^[13]
• Modern Greek – κατά (katá) with the genitive takes the sense “against” from French contre.^[3]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with genitive) down from: from heaven, a mountain, a wall or a horse; of tears flowing from the eyes.^[2][8]
2. (with genitive) Down into, down over, down through: into the earth, over the head or the hands.^[2]
3. (with genitive) against, in a hostile sense.^[2][8]
4. (with genitive) Of time: for all time.^[2]
5. (with accusative) Down along, along, over: a stream, a road, the sea; everywhere in, throughout a city or country.^[2]
6. (with accusative) In, at, near a place; opposite, facing; off a coast; in the company of.^[2]
7. (with accusative) Of time: during, in the course of, at about, in the time of someone, as in καθ᾽ ἡμέραν every day.^[2][8]
8. (with accusative) Distributively: by tribes, villages or groups, as in κατ᾽ ἔπος word by word and καθ᾽ αὑτόν by oneself.^[2]
9. (with accusative) For the purpose of; in search of, after something.^[2]
10. (with accusative) In accordance with, according to: one's will, the law, custom, one's ability; like, comparable to.^[2][8]

Adverb

1. (Homeric) Down, below.^[7][4]

Word family

• καταβαίνω (katabaínō)
• καταλαμβάνω (katalambánō)
• καταλείπω (kataleípō)
• κατάλογος (katálogos)
• κατηγορέω (katēgoréō)
• κατηγορία (katēgoría)
• καθίστημι (kathístēmi)
• κατάστασις (katástasis)
• καταστροφή (katastrophḗ)
• κατέχω (katékhō)
• καθολικός (katholikós)
• κατακλυσμός (kataklusmós)
• κατάρα (katára)
• κάτω (kátō)

Related words

• ἀνά (aná)
• Latin cata
• English cata-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
8. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
11. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
14. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge