πρίν

Forms

πρῐ́ν or πρῑ́ν (prín or prī́n) ^[1] Gortynian πρειν (once, beside the frequent πριν) and Locrian φριν.^[2]

Etymology

Beekes traces it to Proto-Indo-European *prei (“earlier, before”), perhaps through an old locative *pr-i, with the same final ⟨ν⟩ as νῦν (nûn) and πάλιν (pálin).^[2][1][3] It clearly belongs with πρό (pró), and its ⟨ι⟩ is the one in Latin prior (“former”) and prīscus (“ancient”).^[2][3][4] The Cretan form with ⟨ει⟩, and perhaps the long vowel that Homer sometimes has, may match Lithuanian priẽ and Latin prīdem (“long ago”).^[2][4] Chantraine calls the exact formation obscure, and Wiktionary uncertain.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, both as an adverb, “before, formerly”, and as a conjunction, “before”, with the infinitive.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

As a conjunction it usually took the infinitive after a positive main clause, and it could also mean “until”.^[5] Attic prose used πρίν alone, and Ionic preferred πρὶν ἤ, which became the usual form in Koine.^[7][5] The New Testament uses both.^[7]

It has never gone out of use: medieval documents of the 12th century have the form πρου, and Modern Greek πριν (prin) is today both an adverb, “earlier”, and a conjunction, “before”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it as an adverb and as a conjunction.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic phrase πρὶν ἤ.^[5][7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses both πρίν and πρὶν ἤ.^[7]
• 12th century – A document has the form πρου.^[8]
• Modern Greek – πριν (prin) means “before”.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Before, formerly, previously; also τὸ πρίν, “in former times”.^[5][7]
2. Before a specified time, sooner.^[5]

Conjunction

1. Before, with the infinitive; also πρὶν ἤ.^[5][7]
2. Until.^[5]

Preposition

1. (rare) Before, with the genitive.^[2]

Related words

• πρό (pró)
• Latin prior

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 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