ἐξέρχομαι

Forms

ἐξέρχομαι (exérkhomai) ^[1] Future ἐξελεύσομαι, but in Attic the future comes from ἔξειμι (éxeimi), which also gives the imperfect ἐξῄειν; the aorist ἐξῆλθον is the only tense in Homer.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex, “out of”) + ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “to go, to come”).^[1][2] Like the simple verb it takes its aorist from another stem, ἐξῆλθον (exêlthon), and in Attic its future from ἔξειμι (éxeimi).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses only the aorist, meaning “to go or come out” of a place named in the genitive: out of a wall, the gates or the city in the Iliad.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek widened the verb in many directions.^[2] Thucydides uses it of an army marching out, Aristophanes of an actor coming out on stage, and Demosthenes of an accused man leaving the country to avoid trial.^[2] Time “goes out” when it expires, in Herodotus and Sophocles; magistrates go out of office; a disease passes off in the Hippocratic writings; prophecies and dreams “come out”, that is come true, already in Hesiod.^[2] Plato uses it absolutely for going beyond all bounds.^[2]

In the New Testament it is used of people going out or away, of blood and water flowing out, of a sound or a report going out, of descent from someone's loins, of escaping from a difficult situation and, as “to leave the world”, of dying.^[4] Medieval Greek kept it, and Modern Greek εξέρχομαι (exérchomai) is now a learned verb for going out; the participle for outgoing mail is a calque of English.^[5][6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the aorist ἐξῆλθον of coming out of a city or a gate.^[2][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of something that comes true in the end.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a period of time running out.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of an army marching out.^[2]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of an accused man who leaves the country before his trial.^[2]
• 2nd century AD – Marcus Aurelius uses it of offspring coming out of the womb.^[2]
• Modern Greek – εξέρχομαι (exérchomai) survives as a learned word.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go or come out of a place; to march out.^[2][3][4]
2. (of an actor) To come out on the stage.^[2]
3. (law) To withdraw from the country to avoid trial.^[2]
4. (of offspring) To come out of the womb;^[2] (New Testament) to be descended from someone.^[2][4]
5. (of a disease) To pass off.^[2]
6. To go out on an expedition; to go through contests.^[2]
7. To go beyond all bounds.^[2]
8. (of time) To run out, expire;^[2] (of magistrates) to go out of office.^[2]
9. (of prophecies, dreams) To come true, be fulfilled.^[2]
10. (of goods) To be exported.^[2]
11. (New Testament) Of liquids, to flow out; of a sound or report, to go out.^[4]
12. (New Testament) To leave the world, to die; to escape.^[4]

Related words

• ἔρχομαι (érkhomai)
• ἔξειμι (éxeimi)
• ἔξοδος (éxodos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr