περί

Forms

περῐ́ (perí) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)^[1] Dialect forms without the final vowel: Thessalian, Delphian and Aeolic πέρ, Elean πάρ.^[2][3] Mycenaean has Mycenaean Greek pe-ri- as the first element of compounds.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péri, in Beekes's view an old locative of a root meaning “to cross, pass”, so that the word first meant “in crossing, in passing”.^[4][1] Chantraine and Frisk also take the final ⟨ι⟩ as a locative ending, and both connect it with πέρα (péra) and with the verb πείρω (peírō, “to pierce”), and Chantraine calls the sense “to go beyond” fundamental.^[3][5] It belongs to the family of παρά (pará) and πρό (pró).^[5][3]

It corresponds exactly to Sanskrit परि (pári) and Avestan pairi “around, about”.^[4][3][5] Other languages have forms without the final vowel: Latin per (“through”), Lithuanian per̃ (“over, through”), Old Church Slavonic прѣ- (prě-) and Russian пере- (pere-) “over, through, very”, and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂- (fair-).^[4][3][5] Wiktionary explains its genitive as an old ablative of cause and its dative as an old locative.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, as an adverb meaning “around” and “exceedingly”, and as a preposition with all three cases.^[4][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense was “all around”, which LSJ contrasts with ἀμφί (amphí), “on both sides”.^[2] With the accusative it meant “around” of place and movement, then “in the company of”: Thucydides, Plato and Xenophon use “those around” a man for him and his followers.^[7] It also came to mean “about” a point in time or a number.^[7] With the genitive it meant “for the sake of” things fought over, and since the Odyssey also “about, concerning” after verbs of speaking and knowing, and Homer and Hesiod also use it of superiority, “above all others”.^[7][2] Chantraine traces these to the idea of surrounding completely, and so of going over and beyond.^[3] With the dative it meant “around” what one wears or holds.^[7] In the New Testament it is no longer used with the dative.^[8]

The medieval vernacular kept a form of it that still survives in some dialects, but Modern Greek περί (perí) is now a learned word, used mostly in set phrases with the genitive, such as “to think much of someone”.^[9][10] English peri- comes from it.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it as an adverb and as a preposition with all three cases, and the Odyssey with the genitive for speaking “about” someone.^[4][6][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it with the accusative of approximate time, and Thucydides of approximate numbers.^[7][12]
• 3rd century BC – A Thessalian inscription writes it πέρ.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament construes it with the genitive and the accusative only.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned περί (perí) survives in set phrases with the genitive.^[10]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the accusative: around, all around, of place or of movement; in the company of, with.^[7][2]
2. With the accusative: about, approximately, of a time or a number.^[7]
3. With the accusative or genitive: in respect of, concerning; occupied with an activity.^[7]
4. With the genitive: about, of what is heard, said or known.^[7][8]
5. With the genitive: for the sake of, over, of what is fought or competed for.^[7]
6. With the genitive: above, beyond others.^[7][2]
7. With the dative: around, of what is worn or placed on the body; because of, over, of what one fears for.^[7]

Adverb

1. Around, round about.^[4][7]
2. (Epic) exceedingly, above all.^[7][4]

Word family

• πέριξ (périx)
• περισσός (perissós)
• περιβάλλω (peribállō)
• περίοδος (períodos)
• περιπατέω (peripatéō)
• περίμετρος (perímetros)
• περιφέρεια (periphéreia)
• περίζωμα (perízōma)

Related words

• πέρα (pérā)
• παρά (pará)
• πρό (pró)
• Latin per
• English peri-

Usage notes

When it follows its noun, the accent moves back and it is written πέρι, as in “around the town”.^[7] As a prefix it means “round about”, “going around”, “protecting” and “surpassingly”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge