ἐν

Forms

ἐν (en) (governs the dative, genitive, and accusative)^[1] Epic and lyric ἐνί, lengthened εἰν, εἰνί where the metre needs them.^[2][3] Arcadian and Cypriot ἰν.^[2][4] Mycenaean has it only in compounds.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”), an old adverb that survives as an adverb or a preposition in several branches.^[1][4] Frisk also gives a form *eni, perhaps the same as the locative ending in -i, which matches the poetic ἐνί (ení).^[4] The dative it governs continues the old locative case.^[1]

Cognate with Latin in, Old Armenian ի (i), Albanian një, Old Irish in and English in.^[1][4][5] In some dialects (Northwest Greek, Elean, Arcadian, Cypriot, Thessalian, Boeotian) ἐν also took an accusative of direction; the other dialects marked direction with a form extended by -s, ἐνς (ens), which became Attic εἰς (eis).^[4][6] The adverb ἐντός (entós) “inside” is formed from the same Indo-European adverb and matches Latin intus.^[6] Whether the a- of some Greek compounds (the so-called copulative alpha) contains a zero-grade *n̥- of the same word is uncertain.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad and the Odyssey on, already with most of its later uses: “in” of place, “among” a group of people, and “in” a period of time.^[7][2][3] Epic poets sometimes put it after its noun, with the accent thrown back (πολέμῳ ἔνι, “in battle”).^[3]

Semantic evolution

From its basic sense of position “in, within”, the preposition came to mean “on” and “at” (a river, a mountain, a seat), “among” or “in the presence of” people, and, in poetry, “into” after verbs of motion.^[2][3] With the genitive of a person and the house or place left out, it meant “at someone's house”, as in Attic “in Hades'” for the underworld.^[2][3] It was also used of time (“during, within”), of the state one is in, of the means or instrument (“with, by”), and of what lies “in someone's power”.^[2][3]

As a preverb ἐν- formed a great many compounds.^[1] The New Testament uses the preposition in so many overlapping ways that BDAG gives up on a strictly systematic treatment.^[8] The form ἔνι (éni), standing for ἔνειμι (éneimi) “is in, is possible”, became a copula in later Greek, the source of Modern Greek είναι (eínai) “is, are”.^[4][9] Modern Greek keeps the preposition as a learned word, εν (en).^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for place, company and time.^[7][2][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony and the Works and Days.^[7][5]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for citing a written work, and Herodotus for positions “on” the right or left.^[3][5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it in so many overlapping senses that BDAG finds them hard to separate.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The preposition survives as the learned εν (en).^[10][11]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with dative, of place) In, within; in or on a ship or chariot.^[2][3]
2. (with dative) On, at, by: at a city or island, on a mountain, on a seat.^[2][3]
3. (with dative) among, in the number of; in the presence of, before a group of people.^[2][3]
4. (with genitive, a dative noun being understood) At the house or place of someone: ἐν Ἅιδου, “in the house of Hades”.^[2][3]
5. (with dative, of time) In, during, within a period; on a particular day.^[2][3]
6. (with dative) In the power of, depending on someone.^[2]
7. (with dative) With, by means of (an instrument or means).^[2][8]
8. (poetic, with verbs of motion) Into, onto.^[3]
9. (dialectal, with accusative) Into, to, where Attic has εἰς (eis).^[4][3]

Adverb

1. Therein, on board; thereamong.^[3]

Word family

• ἐντός (entós)
• ἔνδον (éndon)
• εἰς (eis)
• ἔνειμι (éneimi)

Related words

• Latin in
• English in

Usage notes

In Homer the preposition often follows its noun and then takes the accent on its first syllable.^[3] Wiktionary lists the phrases ἐν δέ “and therein, and besides” and ἐν τούτῳ “in the meantime” under it.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας