ὁμοῦ

Forms

ὁμοῦ (homoû) ^[1] Aeolic ὔμοι (úmoi), in Sappho.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “one and the same, common”), whose genitive singular came to be used as an adverb.^[1][4][5] Babiniotis instead analyses it as the stem with an adverbial ending ⟨-οῦ⟩, as in πολλαχοῦ (pollakhoû) and ἀλλαχοῦ (allakhoû).^[6]

The adjective is the old Indo-European word for “one and the same”, from Proto-Indo-European *somh₂ós (“same, alike”).^[4][1] Cognate with Sanskrit सम (sama), Old Persian hama, Old Church Slavonic самъ (samŭ) and Old English sama, the source of English “same”.^[1][4] Within Greek it belongs with εἷς (heîs, “one”) and ἅμα (háma, “at once”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, meaning “in the same place” or “at the same time”: the opening book fears that war and plague together will destroy the Achaeans.^[5][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it means both “in one place” and “at one time”, and with the dative “together with”, of going with the clouds or lying among the dead.^[5][2][3] It is often added to two nouns already joined by “and”, like English “both”.^[2][3] In tragedy and comedy it can mean “close at hand”, and the orators use it with numbers, “in all, altogether”; with τι it means “nearly, approximately”.^[2][3]

The Koine kept the word: in the New Testament the disciples are “together” in one place, and two run together.^[8] It passed into Medieval Greek as a learned word,^[9] and Modern Greek uses ομού (omoú), “together”, only in formal style.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for “in the same place”, “at the same time”, and with the dative “together with”.^[5][2]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho has the Aeolic form ὔμοι (úmoi).^[2][11]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for “close at hand”.^[2][3]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it with numbers, “in all”.^[2][3]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of people gathered or running together.^[8]
• Modern Greek – ομού (omoú) survives as a learned word for “together”.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In the same place, together.^[3][2][5]
2. At the same time, both at once.^[3][5]
3. Together in purpose or effort, in unison.^[3]
4. Close at hand, nearby.^[3][2]
5. With numbers: in all, altogether; with τι, nearly, approximately.^[3][2]
6. Joining two nouns or clauses: both, alike.^[3][2]

Preposition

1. With the dative: together with, along with; close to.^[3][2]
2. Rarely with the genitive: near.^[2]

Related words

• ὁμός (homós)
• ὁμόσε (homóse)
• ὁμόθεν (homóthen)
• ὅμως (hómōs)
• ἅμα (háma)
• εἷς (heîs)

Usage notes

The synonym lexicon of Ammonius distinguishes it from ἅμα (háma): ἅμα refers to time, ὁμοῦ to place, so that Solon and Anacharsis, who flourished in the same period, lived ἅμα but not ὁμοῦ.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
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. ^ 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
11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)