ἄτερ

Forms

ᾰ̓́τερ (áter) (governs the genitive)^[1]

Etymology

It is a psilotic form, perhaps Aeolic, of an older *ἁτέρ (*hatér), and corresponds exactly to Old High German suntar (“separated, but”), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥-tér.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary reconstructs *sn̥Hter, from *senH-.^[1] Related forms of a different shape are ἄνευ (áneu, “without”), Latin sine, Tocharian A sne, Tocharian B snai and Old Irish sain (“particular, different”).^[2] Beekes notes that these require a laryngeal, which cannot be reconciled with ἄτερ, a problem that is still unsolved.^[2] The lack of the rough breathing shows that it was a poetic word of epic and Ionic.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it with the genitive for “apart from” and “without”: in the first book of the Iliad someone sits apart from the others.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The preposition took the genitive and meant both “away from, apart from” and “without”;^[5][6] “without Zeus” meant “against Zeus' will”, and Pindar's “not without the gods” corresponds to Latin “non sine dis”.^[5][6] It was common in tragedy, where it often follows its noun.^[5][6] Alcaeus and Pindar also used it for “except”.^[6] In prose it appears only late, in the Septuagint and in writers of the Roman period such as Plutarch, and once in the Gospel of Luke.^[5][8] The adverbs ἄτερθεν (áterthe) and ἀπάτερθεν (apáterthe) were formed from it.^[2][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it with the genitive for “apart from” and “without”.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod speaks of men living “apart from evils”.^[5]
• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it for “except”.^[6]
• 5th century BC – The tragedians use it often, mostly after its noun.^[5][6]
• 2nd century BC – It enters prose in an inscription from Priene.^[8]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke uses it for “apart from the crowd”.^[8][6]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the genitive: without.^[5][6]
2. With the genitive: apart from, away from a group or a person.^[5][6]
3. With the genitive of a god: without the god's help or will.^[6][5]
4. With the genitive: except.^[6]
5. (rare, late) With the dative: without.^[5]

Word family

• ἄτερθε (áterthe)
• ἀπάτερθε (apáterthe)

Related words

• ἄνευ (áneu)
• Latin sine

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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 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 l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
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