ἕκαστος

Forms

ἕκᾰστος (hékastos) ^[1] Old form ϝέκαστος (wékastos) (Gortyn, Elis, Locris, Arcadia); the digamma is also shown by Homer's metre.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

Probably from a phrase *ἑκὰς τις (*hekàs tis) "each one for himself", made from ἑκάς (hekás, “apart, far off”) and τις (tis, “someone”), as Wackernagel proposed.^[2][5][3][1] The genitive *ἑκὰς τεο (*hekàs teo) and dative *ἑκὰς τῳ (*hekàs tōi) became ἑκάστου (hekástou) and ἑκάστῳ (hekástōi), and the other cases were made after the superlatives in -ιστος (-istos).^[2][5] Lazzeroni instead sees the superlative and ordinal suffix -τος (-tos) added to the adverb.^[3]

The adverb itself is from the reflexive pronoun ἕ (hé) (Proto-Hellenic *hwe, from Proto-Indo-European *swé) with a distributive suffix -κάς (-kás), also found in ἀνδρακάς (andrakás, “man by man”) and in Sanskrit शतशस् (śataśás, “by hundreds”).^[2][1]

Because ἕκαστος was then analysed as ἕκα-στος (héka-stos), it gave rise to ἑκάτερος (hekáteros, “each of two”).^[2][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, for "each" as opposed to the whole body, often with a plural verb: after the feast the gods "went home, each to his own house" (ἔβαν οἶκόνδε ἕκαστος, Iliad 1.606).^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In the plural it means "all and each severally" (ταῦτα ἕκαστα, "all these things"), and it is strengthened by other words: εἷς ἕκαστος "every single one", ἕκαστός τις.^[4][6][7] Prepositional phrases became fixed in prose: καθ' ἕκαστον "one by one, individually", and in Plato and Aristotle τὰ καθ' ἕκαστα, "particulars", as opposed to universals.^[4][7] From it came the adverbs ἑκάστοτε (hekástote, “each time”) and ἑκασταχοῦ (hekastakhoû, “everywhere”).^[2][3]

The grammarian Ammonius distinguishes it from ἑκάτερος: ἑκάτερος is said of two, ἕκαστος of many.^[8] Later writers sometimes use ἕκαστος for ἑκάτερος.^[4]

The word lasted into Modern Greek, where έκαστος (ékastos) is learned and formal (καθ' εκάστην "daily"); the everyday word is καθένας (kathénas).^[9][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for "each", in the plural for "all severally".^[4][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses ἕκαστα in the Theogony and the Works and Days.^[10][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use ὡς ἕκαστοι, "each by himself".^[4][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses καθ' ἕκαστον, "individually".^[4][11]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it in the sense of ἑκάτερος, "each of two".^[4][11]
• Modern Greek – έκαστος (ékastos) survives as a learned word.^[9]

Meanings

Determiner

1. each, every, of the members of a group taken one by one.^[4][7]
2. (as a pronoun) each one; εἷς ἕκαστος, every single one.^[4][7]
3. (plural) All and each severally; each of two or more groups.^[4][6]
4. With prepositions: καθ' ἕκαστον, singly, individually; τὰ καθ' ἕκαστα, the particulars, the details.^[4][7]
5. ὡς ἕκαστοι: each by himself, each group separately.^[4]
6. (late) Each of two, the same as ἑκάτερος (hekáteros).^[4]

Word family

• ἑκάστοτε (hekástote)
• ἑκασταχοῦ (hekastakhoû)
• ἑκάστοθι (hekástothi)
• ἑκάτερος (hekáteros)

Related words

• ἑκάς (hekás)
• ἕ (hé)

Usage notes

Ammonius distinguishes ἑκάτερος, used of two, from ἕκαστος, used of more than two: of the Seven against Thebes, "each held one gate".^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge