ἀπωτέρω

Forms

ἀπωτέρω (apōtérō), comparative adverb; superlative ἀπωτάτω (apōtátō).^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a comparative adverb from Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “from, away”).^[3][4][5] LSJ and the Middle Liddell take it as the comparative of ἄπωθεν (ápōthen, “from afar”), and Chantraine says that it and the superlative serve as the comparative and superlative of that adverb, whose ⟨ω⟩ is due to their analogy and to that of πόρρωθεν (pórrhōthen).^[1][6][2] Pokorny lists it among the comparative derivatives of Proto-Indo-European *apo- (“from, off”), beside Old Persian apataram (“aside, elsewhere”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 5th century BC.^[1][3] Sophocles speaks of “more distant friends”, and Cratinus uses it with the genitive: “the asses sit farther from the lyre”.^[1][3][8]

Semantic evolution

In classical prose it means “farther off” in space, as in Aristophanes and Plato,^[1][3] and with the genitive “farther from”, as in Aeneas Tacticus' “farther from the city”.^[3] It was also used of kinship, of relatives more remotely related: in a law attributed to Solon, in Isaeus and in Demosthenes.^[3][8] Polybius uses it for “rather too far away”.^[8][3] It appears in a papyrus of the 3rd century BC and in the Septuagint book of Daniel.^[3][9] The lexicographers Hesychius and Photius and the Lexica Segueriana gloss it with πόρρω (pórrhō, “far”).^[10][11][12]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of more distant friends, and Cratinus with the genitive.^[1][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato use it for “farther off”, and Isaeus for more distant relatives.^[1][3][8]
• 4th century BC – Aeneas Tacticus writes of places farther from the city.^[3]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus quotes the proverb “the shin is farther than the knee”.^[1][3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for “too far away”.^[8][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Farther off, further away.^[1][8][3]
2. With the genitive: farther from, at some distance from.^[1][3][8]
3. More remote in kinship.^[8][3]
4. Rather too far away.^[8]

Related words

• ἄπωθεν (ápōthen)
• ἀπό (apó)

Usage notes

Theocritus has the proverb ἀπωτέρω ἢ γόνυ κνάμα, “the shin is farther than the knee”.^[1][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
11. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
12. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck