ἀντιδίδωμι

Forms

ᾰ̓ντῐδῐ́δωμῐ (antidídōmi) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-, “in return, instead”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is a fragment of Anacreon, where it is used of returning a favour.^[4] In Aeschylus' Libation Bearers it means to give in return and to grant in return.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 5th century BC it means to give or pay in return: Herodotus has gifts to be given to Croesus in return, Euripides thanks returned for a rescue, and Thucydides vengeance repaid and compassion shown in return.^[5][4][6] It also means to give something in exchange or as a substitute: in Euripides' Alcestis a wife gives her life for her husband's, and in Aristophanes money is paid in exchange.^[5][6][4]

In Athenian law it was the technical verb of the ἀντίδοσις (antídosis): a citizen named to perform a costly public service could, instead of performing it, propose an exchange of property with another man;^[6] Lysias and Demosthenes use it of this procedure, also in connection with the command of a trireme.^[5][6][4][3] In Hellenistic Egypt a papyrus petition asks for an equal amount of land to be given in exchange,^[4] and the Septuagint uses it for paying in return.^[7][4] Damocrates, quoted by Galen, uses it of giving a drug as an antidote, a sense linked to ἀντίδοτος (antídotos).^[5][3][2]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Anacreon uses it of returning a favour.^[4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for giving and granting in return.^[5][6][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus, Euripides and Thucydides use it for giving, paying or exchanging in return.^[5][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Lysias uses it for the exchange of property in the Athenian antidosis.^[5][6]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of an exchange offered over a trierarchy.^[5][4]
• 3rd century BC – A petition on papyrus asks for land to be given in exchange.^[4]
• 1st century AD – Damocrates uses it for giving a drug as an antidote.^[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give in return, repay: a gift, a favour, a penalty.^[5][6][4]
2. To grant in return, with an infinitive.^[6][4]
3. To give in exchange or as a substitute for something.^[5][6]
4. (Athenian law) Of a citizen named to a public service, to offer an exchange of property instead; also to accept such an exchange.^[5][6][4]
5. (medicine) To give as an antidote.^[5][3]

Word family

• ἀντίδοσις (antídosis)
• ἀντίδοτος (antídotos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
3. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft