ἀντί

Forms

ᾰ̓ντῐ́ (antí) (governs the genitive)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“in front, opposite”),^[1][2] the locative of a root noun meaning “face, front”.^[3][4] The same noun survives in Hittite ḫanza (“front”), and its accusative in ἄντα (ánta, “face to face”), while Beekes also sees its old instrumental in ἀμφί (amphí).^[4][3]

It is identical with Sanskrit अन्ति (ánti, “opposite, near”), Latin ante (“before”) and Hittite ḫanti (“separately”).^[4][2][5] Wiktionary also compares English and, and explains its genitive as an old ablative of comparison or separation.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, in the sense “in return for, instead of”.^[6][7] LSJ notes that the Homeric passages once cited for the local sense “opposite” are now read as ἀντία (antía) or ἄντα (ánta).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was local, “over against, opposite”, which survives in Xenophon, in Hero's engineering and in the Gortyn law code, where it means “in the presence of” witnesses.^[5][8][7] From there it came to mark equivalence (“worth as much as”), preference (“rather than”), substitution (“instead of”, “in place of” a ruler) and exchange (“in return for”).^[7][8][5]

The New Testament uses it of replacement and of equivalence or exchange.^[8] Medieval Greek had the forms άντις and αντίς, which survive in dialects, and Modern Greek αντί (antí) still means “instead of” and introduces the second term of a comparison.^[9][10] English anti- comes from it through Latin and Old French.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for “in return for” and “instead of”.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Thucydides use it of preference, “rather than”.^[7][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon still uses it of place, “opposite”.^[5][7]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of succeeding to an office, “in place of” a ruler.^[7][2]
• 1st century AD – Matthew's Gospel uses it of a son reigning “in place of” his father.^[8]
• Modern Greek – αντί (antí) means “instead of”.^[10]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the genitive: opposite, facing; in the presence of.^[5][7]
2. Worth as much as, equivalent to.^[7]
3. In comparison with; in preference to, rather than.^[7]
4. Instead of, in place of; in the function of, as.^[7][8]
5. In return for, in exchange for.^[7][8]
6. Because of, for the sake of.^[7]

Word family

• ἔναντι (énanti)
• ἀπέναντι (apénanti)
• κατέναντι (katénanti)
• ἀντίπαλος (antípalos)
• ἀντιλέγω (antilégō)
• ἀντίθεσις (antíthesis)
• ἀντίδοτος (antídotos)

Related words

• ἀντι- (anti-)
• ἀντίος (antíos)
• ἄντα (ánta)
• ἀντάω (antáō)
• ἄντομαι (ántomai)
• ἀμφί (amphí)
• Latin ante
• English anti-

Usage notes

It sometimes follows its noun, but unlike most prepositions it then keeps its accent.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b 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
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon 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 g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ 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
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