ἐκ

Forms

ἐκ (ek) (governs the genitive)^[1] ἐξ before vowels, in Attic inscriptions also ἐγ- before voiced consonants and ἐχ- before aspirates, Cretan and Boeotian ἐς.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *eks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out of”).^[1][3] The form before vowels, ἐξ (ex), is the original one.^[3] Exact matches are found in Italic and Celtic: Latin ex, Middle Welsh ex- and Old Irish ess-, and Baltic and Slavic have forms with an unclear /i/, Lithuanian ìš and Old Church Slavonic из (iz).^[3][1] Because of the aspirate in ἔσχατος (éskhatos, “last, outermost”), Beekes prefers *h₁eǵʰ-s to *h₁eḱ-s.^[3]

The genitive it governs continues the Indo-European ablative of separation.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, as an adverb, a preverb and a preposition with the genitive, meaning “out of, from”.^[3][4] The Iliad has it of coming from a place, “out of Pylos”, and of separation, “out of the battle”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From motion “out of” a place, the commonest use, it came to mark distance “away from”, the point from which something hangs or is seen, and the side (“on the left”, “on the right”).^[2][4] In time it means “after” and “since”: ἐξ οὗ (ex hoû, “since”), ἐκ γενετῆς (ek genetês, “from birth”).^[4] It marks origin and descent (born “of” parents), the material a thing is made of, the cause and the agent (“by the gods”), and the basis of an action, “in accordance with” a law or an oracle; with ἴσου it means “equally”.^[4]

In Medieval Greek the forms ακ (still Cypriot), αχ, εχ, οκ and οχ appear, and survive in dialects.^[5] In Modern Greek εκ (ek), εξ (eks) before vowels, is a learned preposition with the genitive, used mostly in set expressions.^[6][5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of motion out of a place and of separation.^[2][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the phrase “walls built by the Greeks”, with ἐκ of the agent.^[4][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of deriving information from books.^[4][7]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has the variants ακ, αχ, εχ, οκ and οχ.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned εκ (ek) survives in set expressions.^[6]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with the genitive) Out of, forth from (of motion); away from.^[2][4]
2. (with the genitive) From, on (of position): hanging from, looking from; on the left or right.^[4]
3. (with the genitive) Of time: after; since, from (a time on).^[4][2]
4. (with the genitive) Of origin: from (a place), born of (parents); made out of (a material); one out of (a group).^[4]
5. (with the genitive) Of cause and agency: because of; by, at the hands of; by means of.^[4]
6. (with the genitive) On the basis of, in accordance with (a law, an oracle).^[4]

Adverb

1. From there, out.^[4][3]

Word family

• ἐκτός (ektós)
• ἔξω (éxō)
• ἔσχατος (éskhatos)
• ἐχθός (ekhthós)
• ὑπέκ (hupék)
• παρέκ (parék)
• διέκ (diék)

Related words

• Latin ex

Usage notes

Rarely it follows its noun and is then accented (ἔκ).^[4] As a preverb it means “out”, and often marks completion.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge