ἕως

ἕως¹ dawn

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /hé.ɔːs/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈe.os/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈe.os/^[1]

Forms

ἕως (héōs) f (genitive ἕω); second declension^[1] Ionic and epic ἠώς (ēṓs), Doric ἀϝώς, ἀϝώρ, Aeolic αὔως.^[2][3]

Etymology

The dawn is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *auhṓs, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsōs (“dawn”), and is the Attic form of ἠώς (ēṓs).^[1][2][3] Its rough breathing is probably due to a shift of aspiration, as in εὕω (heúō), though Sommer took it from ἑσπέρα (hespérā); its accent on the first syllable was probably taken from the common adverb ἕωθεν (héōthen), where it is regular.^[2][4][5] The Attic genitive and accusative ἕω follow the masculine nouns in ⟨-ως⟩ such as λεώς (leṓs).^[5]

It is cognate with Latin aurōra, which adds a final ⟨-a⟩, and with the zero-grade Sanskrit उषस् (uṣás, “dawn”).^[2][4][1] An r-stem of the same root is seen in αὔριον (aúrion, “tomorrow”) and Lithuanian aušrà (“dawn”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Attic form is found in tragedy: Aeschylus quotes a proverb, “may dawn be born from its mother night as a bringer of good news” (Agamemnon 256), and Sophocles has πρὸς πρώτην ἕω (pròs prṓtēn héō, “towards the first dawn”, Oedipus at Colonus 477).^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Attic prose uses it of the time of day: ἅμα τῇ ἕῳ (háma têi héōi, “at dawn”) and πρὸ τῆς ἕω (prò tês héō, “before dawn”) in Thucydides, and “the next morning” in Xenophon.^[3][6] Like the epic word, it can also mean the east, where the sun rises.^[7][8] Its derivatives ἕωλος (héōlos) “a night old”, of food, and ἑωθινός (heōthinós) “of the morning” are Attic and Ionic.^[2] The lexicographers gloss it as the hour before sunrise, as daybreak, and as the day itself.^[9][10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad has the compound ἑωσφόρος (heōsphóros) “bringer of dawn, morning star”, perhaps an Attic touch in the epic.^[2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus quotes a proverb about the dawn born of night.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Thucydides use the Attic form, and Thucydides has “at dawn” and “before dawn”.^[3][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of the time from one dawn to the next.^[6]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as the hour before sunrise, as daybreak and as day.^[9][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dawn, daybreak.^[3][13]
2. Morning as a time of day.^[3]
3. The east.^[7][8]
4. (capitalised) Ἕως, the goddess of the dawn.^[13]

Word family

• ἑωσφόρος (heōsphóros)
• ἕωθεν (héōthen)
• ἑωθινός (heōthinós)
• ἕωλος (héōlos)
• ἑῷος (heôios)

ἕως² until

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /hé.ɔːs/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈe.os/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈe.os/^[1]

Forms

ἕως (héōs); epic ἧος (hêos), also written εἵως, Aeolic ἆος, Doric ἇς (hâs).^[2][3]

Etymology

The conjunction is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yéh₂wot (“as long as, until”), the relative adverb that is also continued by Sanskrit यावत् (yā́vat, “as long as, as far as”).^[2][1][4] The final ⟨-ς⟩ is unclear: Beekes takes it as the adverbial ⟨-ς⟩ that Greek added, though not always in Doric.^[2][4] The word belongs with the relative pronoun ὅς (hós), and its demonstrative counterpart is τέως (téōs, “so long, meanwhile”).^[2][4][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it, mostly as epic ἧος, for “until” with the indicative of a past fact (Il. 11.342), with κε and the subjunctive of an uncertain future, as in “I will fight until I find the end of the war” (Il. 3.291), with the optative after a past tense (Od. 5.386), and for “while” (Od. 13.315).^[3][15] Homer also uses it as a demonstrative, “for a time”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

With the subjunctive or optative it could also express purpose, “so that”, in the Odyssey and in papyri.^[3] Classical Greek used ἕως ἄν with the subjunctive for “until”; tragedy sometimes leaves out ἄν, which becomes frequent in later Greek.^[3] Hellenistic Greek made it a preposition with the genitive, rarely the accusative, “until” and “as far as”, of time, place and number, common in the Septuagint, the papyri and the New Testament, and it was combined with adverbs and relatives: ἕως οὗ and ἕως ὅτου “until”, ἕως πότε; “how long?”, ἕως ὧδε “as far as here”.^[3][2][16] Babiniotis notes that it began to be confused with ὡς (hōs) already in antiquity.^[17]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it as a conjunction and a preposition, also in shortened forms.^[18] Modern Greek έως (éos) is a learned word.^[19]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it, mostly as epic ἧος, for “until” and “while”.^[3][15]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it with the subjunctive without ἄν, and Thucydides with the optative.^[3]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it as a preposition of place, “up to the point where”.^[3]
• 3rd century BC – An inscription from Samos has “as far as Sardis”, with the genitive.^[3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it before prepositions, “as far as the camp”.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses ἕως πότε; (héōs póte, “how long?”) and ἕως οὗ (héōs hoû, “until”).^[3][16]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it as a conjunction, also in shortened forms.^[18]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the learned έως (éos).^[19]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. Until, till (with the indicative, the subjunctive or the optative).^[3][13]
2. While, so long as.^[3]
3. In order that, so that (with the subjunctive or optative).^[3]

Adverb

1. (Homeric) For a time, meanwhile.^[2][3]
2. With adverbs and prepositions: up to, as far as, as in ἕως πότε; “how long?”.^[3]

Preposition

1. (Hellenistic) With the genitive, rarely the accusative: until; as far as; up to (of a number or degree).^[3][16]