ἐντός

Forms

ἐντός (entós) (governs the genitive)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *entós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éntos (“(from) inside”).^[1][2] Beekes describes it as an Indo-European formation in *-tos made from the adverb *h₁en (“in”), which Greek continues as ἐν (en);^[2][3] the same suffix appears in Sanskrit इतस् (itáḥ, “from here”) and Latin penitus (“from inside”).^[2] Its opposite ἐκτός (ektós) is built the same way.^[2][4]

Cognate with Latin intus (“(from) inside”), which Beekes calls identical with it.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, as an adverb meaning “inside” and as a preposition with the genitive, as in “inside the wall”.^[6][4] The first texts in which it occurs are the Iliad and the Odyssey.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the sense of place inside an enclosure, the word was used of motion into a place and then of anything within a limit: within range of a bowshot (Euripides, Xenophon), on the near side of a river, sea or mountain (Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato), within a time (Herodotus, Thucydides) or below a number.^[6][4] Herodotus and Demosthenes used it of being “within oneself”, that is in control of one's senses, and Plato and the orators of degrees of kinship nearer than cousins.^[6][4] With the article, τὸ ἐντός and τὰ ἐντός meant the interior of a place or the inner parts of the body.^[6]

In the New Testament it is only a preposition with the genitive;^[8] in Luke the kingdom of God is said to be “within you”, which LSJ glosses as “in your hearts”.^[4][8] Plutarch used it for Nearer Spain, the part of the peninsula on Rome's side.^[4][6] Medieval Greek kept the word and also used it with the article as a noun.^[9] Modern εντός (entós) is a learned word taken from the ancient one.^[10][5]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad uses it for “inside”, also as a preposition with the genitive (“inside the wall”).^[4][6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it with the genitive, “within Olympus”.^[4][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the near side of a river and of being in control of oneself, and Thucydides of time (“within twenty days”).^[4][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for degrees of kinship and for counting “less than” a number.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke speaks of the kingdom of God “within you”.^[4][8]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch calls Nearer Spain the “Spain within”.^[4][6]
• Modern Greek – The learned εντός (entós) continues the ancient word.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Inside, within.^[6][4]
2. (with the article) τὸ ἐντός: the interior of a place; τὰ ἐντός: the inner parts of the body.^[6]

Preposition

1. (with the genitive) Inside, within a place or enclosure; also with verbs of motion, into the inside of.^[6][4][8]
2. (with the genitive) Within range of: within a bowshot or a spear's throw.^[6][4]
3. (with the genitive) On the near side of a river, sea or boundary; of a mine, cut beyond its prescribed limit.^[6][4]
4. (with the genitive) Within the control of: “within oneself”, in one's right mind.^[6][4]
5. (with the genitive) Of time, within, before the end of: within a few days, before evening.^[6][4]
6. (with the genitive) Of number, less than, under; of kinship, nearer than.^[6]

Related words

• ἐν (en)
• ἐκτός (ektós)
• Latin intus

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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki