μέχρι

Forms

μέχρῐ (mékhri) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *méǵʰsri (“until”), a locative form.^[2][1] Beekes and Wiktionary analyse it as *me (“with”) combined with the word for “hand”, *ǵʰes-, the source of χείρ (kheír).^[2][1] Frisk reports this analysis, which goes back to Adontz, but accepts only the equation with Armenian and calls further connections hypothetical.^[2][1][3]

It is identical with Old Armenian մերձ (merj, “near, by”), from which Armenian also made a verb meaning “to approach”.^[2][3] Wiktionary also compares Albanian ndjerë (“until, near”).^[1] The zero-grade form of the same word is ἄχρι (ákhri).^[2][1] The genitive that μέχρι governs continues the Indo-European ablative of extent.^[1] The doublet ⟨μέχρις⟩ has the adverbial ⟨-ς⟩ found in other adverbs.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Iliad, as a preposition with the genitive: of place in μέχρι θαλάσσης (mékhri thalássēs, “as far as the sea”, Il. 13.143), and of time in the question τέο μέχρις; (téo mékhris, “until when?, how long?”, Il. 24.128).^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it is only a preposition, of place and of time.^[4][5] In Classical prose it is also an adverb, standing before prepositions and adverbs of place and time, “right up to”, “as far as”, mainly in Plato and Xenophon (μέχρι νῦν, mékhri nûn, “until now”).^[5][6] As a conjunction it means “until” or “as long as”, with the indicative or with ἄν and the subjunctive, from Thucydides on.^[4][5] The phrase μέχρι οὗ (mékhri hoû) became a conjunction “until”, and Herodotus even uses it as a preposition.^[4][5]

The preposition also measured degree, “as far as is just”, “as far as possible”, and gave round numbers, “up to twelve”.^[5] In the New Testament it means “until” and “as far as”, and the form μέχρις is used before vowels, as in some inscriptions and papyri.^[7] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it as a preposition, and it survives as Modern Greek μέχρι (méchri), a learned form beside μέχρις.^[8][9][4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it as a preposition of place (“as far as the sea”) and of time (“how long?”).^[5][4]
• 6th century BC – Theognis and Phocylides use it in elegiac verse.^[10][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses μέχρι οὗ (mékhri hoû) as a preposition, and Thucydides uses μέχρι as a conjunction “until”.^[5][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and Xenophon use it as an adverb before prepositions and adverbs, “right up to”.^[5][6]
• 1st century AD – The Letter to the Philippians speaks of obedience “to the point of death” (2.8).^[5][7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it as a preposition, also with a final ⟨ς⟩.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned form μέχρι (méchri) is still in use.^[9]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the genitive, of place: as far as, up to.^[5][6]
2. With the genitive, of time: until, up to, as in τέο μέχρις; “how long?”.^[5][6]
3. With the genitive, of measure or degree: to the point of, so far as is consistent with.^[5][7]
4. With numbers: up to, about.^[5]

Adverb

1. As far as, right up (before a preposition or an adverb of place or time).^[5][6]
2. Far enough, sufficiently (with a final clause, in Callimachus).^[6]

Conjunction

1. Till, with the indicative, or with ἄν and the subjunctive.^[5][6]
2. As long as, while.^[5]

Related words

• ἄχρι (ákhri)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux