ἑκών

Forms

ἑκών (hekṓn) m (feminine ἑκοῦσα, neuter ἑκόν); first/third declension^[1] Cretan feminine γέκαθα (gékatha) (Hesychius) and Cyrenaean feminine ἕκασσα (hékassa).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is an old participle of a lost present *ϝέκμι (*wékmi), from Proto-Indo-European *weḱ- (“to wish, want”).^[3][2][4] It matches the Sanskrit participle of the same verb except in the vowel of the root, which comes from the full grade of the lost present, seen also in Hittite wekmi and Sanskrit वष्टि (váṣṭi, “wants”).^[3][2][1] The rough breathing is secondary, and the old /w/ is still written in dialect inscriptions from Locris and Crete.^[3][5][2] The DGE tentatively compares the Mycenaean form Mycenaean Greek we-ka-sa.^[2] Beekes compares ἕκητι (hékēti, “by the will of”) and ἑκάεργος (hekáergos).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used of a person acting of his own free will, willingly, often set against ἀέκων (aékōn, “unwilling”), as in the Iliad: “I gave it willingly, but with an unwilling heart”.^[5][6][2] Homer also uses it for giving in too readily.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it means “willing, of one's own free will”, mostly as a predicate with the force of an adverb, and the pairing with ἄκων (ákōn) became a fixed contrast.^[7][5] It also means “wittingly, on purpose”, as already in the Iliad.^[5] In Attic prose ἑκὼν εἶναι (hekṑn eînai) with a negative means “as far as it depends on my will”.^[5] Pindar and Bacchylides use it figuratively of a mind or a back that is willing.^[7]

In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians sets it against ἄκων.^[8] Modern Greek keeps εκών (ekón) as a learned word, mainly in the phrase Modern Greek εκών άκων (ekón ákon) “willy-nilly”.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of acting willingly, often against ἀέκων.^[6][5][11]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of swearing a false oath knowingly.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and the Attic writers use the phrase ἑκὼν εἶναι, and Sophocles sets ἄκων against οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν.^[5][2]
• 1st century AD – 1 Corinthians sets it against ἄκων.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as a learned word, mostly in εκών άκων (ekón ákon) “willy-nilly”.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Willing, acting of one's own free will; as an adverb, willingly, readily.^[5][7]
2. Wittingly, deliberately, on purpose.^[5]
3. (Homeric) Giving in too readily.^[6]
4. In ἑκὼν εἶναι, with a negative: as far as depends on one's will.^[5]

Word family

• ἑκούσιος (hekoúsios)

Related words

• ἄκων (ákōn)
• ἕκητι (hékēti)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux