εἰμί
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Ancient Greek[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- ἔμμῐ (émmi) – Aeolic
- ἠμῐ́ (ēmí) – Cretan
- εἶμαι (eîmai) – Byzantine
- εἴμ’ (eím’), εἰμ’ (eim’) – apocopic
- εἰμι (eimi) – unstressed
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Hellenic *ehmi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“I am, I exist”). Cognate with Old English eom (whence English am), Latin sum, Sanskrit अस्मि (ásmi), Old Armenian եմ (em), and so on. More at *h₁es- (“to be, exist”). Not to be confused with εἶμι (eîmi) (to go).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /eː.mí/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /iˈmi/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /iˈmi/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /iˈmi/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /iˈmi/
Audio (Classical Attic): εἰμί, ἔσομαι, ἦν, εἶναι (file)
Verb[edit]
εἰμῐ́ • (eimí)
- To be, exist; (of persons) live
- (of events) To happen
- To be the case
- (copulative) To be [+nominative = something, someone]
- (third person, impersonal) it is possible [+infinitive = that ...]
Usage notes[edit]
- Used as Aorist: ἐγενόμην (egenómēn) and as Present Perfect: γέγονα (gégona) from verb γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “come into being”)
- Hellenistic Koine present imperative 2nd person singular: ἔσο (éso)
- Postclassical Imperfect 1st person singular: ἢμην (ḕmēn)
- Verbal adjective: συνεστέον (sunestéon)
Inflection[edit]
Present: εἰμῐ́
number | singular | dual | plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | second | third | first | second | third | ||||||
active | indicative | εἰμῐ́ | εἶ | ἐστί/ἐστίν | ἐστόν | ἐστόν | ἐσμέν | ἐστέ | εἰσί/εἰσίν | ||||
subjunctive | ὦ | ᾖς | ᾖ | ἦτον | ἦτον | ὦμεν | ἦτε | ὦσι/ὦσιν | |||||
optative | εἴην | εἴης | εἴη | εἴητον/εἶτον | εἰήτην/εἴτην | εἴημεν/εἶμεν | εἴητε/εἶτε | εἴησαν/εἶεν | |||||
imperative | ἴσθι | ἔστω | ἔστον | ἔστων | ἔστε | ἔστων/ἔστωσαν/ὄντων | |||||||
active | |||||||||||||
infinitive | εἶναι | ||||||||||||
participle | m | ὤν | |||||||||||
f | οὖσα | ||||||||||||
n | ὄν | ||||||||||||
Notes: | This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.
|
Present: εἰμί (Epic)
number | singular | dual | plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | second | third | first | second | third | ||||||
active | indicative | εἰμί | ἐσσί/εἶς | ἐστί/ἐστίν | ἐστόν | ἐστόν | εἰμέν | ἐστέ | εἰσί(ν)/ἔᾱσι(ν) | ||||
subjunctive | ἔω | ᾖς | ἔῃ/ἔῃσι/ᾖσι | ἦτε | ἔωσι(ν)/ὦσι(ν) | ||||||||
optative | εἴην | εἴης/ἔοις | εἴη/ἔοι | εἴητον/εἶτον | εἰήτην/εἴτην | εἴημεν/εἶμεν | εἴητε/εἶτε | εἴησαν/εἶεν | |||||
imperative | ἔσσο | ἔστω | ἔστον | ἔστων | ἔστε | ἔστων | |||||||
active | |||||||||||||
infinitive | εἶναι/ἔμμεναι/ἔμεναι/ἔμμεν/ἔμεν | ||||||||||||
participle | m | ἐών/ὤν | |||||||||||
f | ἐοῦσα/οὖσα | ||||||||||||
n | ἐόν/ὄν | ||||||||||||
Notes: | This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.
|
number | singular | dual | plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | second | third | first | second | third | ||||||
active | indicative | ἦα/ἔᾱ/ἔον/ἔσκον | ἔησθα/ἦσθα | ἦεν/ἔην/ἤην/ἦν/ἔσκε(ν) | ἤστον | ἤστην | ἦμεν | ἦτε | ἦσαν/ἔσαν | ||||
Notes: | This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.
|
Future: ἔσομαι
number | singular | dual | plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | second | third | first | second | third | ||||||
middle | indicative | ἔσομαι | ἔσῃ, ἔσει |
ἔσεται/ἔσται | ἔσεσθον | ἔσεσθον | ἐσόμεθᾰ | ἔσεσθε | ἔσονται | ||||
optative | ἐσοίμην | ἔσοιο | ἔσοιτο | ἔσοισθον | ἐσοίσθην | ἐσοίμεθᾰ | ἔσοισθε | ἔσοιντο | |||||
middle | |||||||||||||
infinitive | ἔσεσθαι | ||||||||||||
participle | m | ἐσόμενος | |||||||||||
f | ἐσομένη | ||||||||||||
n | ἐσόμενον | ||||||||||||
Notes: | This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For conjugation in dialects other than Attic, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.
|
number | singular | dual | plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | second | third | first | second | third | ||||||
middle | indicative | ἔσσομαι | ἔσσεαι | ἔσσεται/ἐσσεῖται | ἔσσεσθον | ἔσσεσθον | ἐσσόμε(σ)θᾰ | ἔσσεσθε | ἔσσονται | ||||
optative | ἐσσοίμην | ἔσσοιο | ἔσσοιτο | ἔσσοισθον | ἐσσοίσθην | ἐσσοίμε(σ)θᾰ | ἔσσοισθε | ἐσσοίᾰτο | |||||
middle | |||||||||||||
infinitive | ἔσσεσθαι | ||||||||||||
participle | m | ἐσσόμενος | |||||||||||
f | ἐσσομένη | ||||||||||||
n | ἐσσόμενον | ||||||||||||
Notes: | Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms are based on conjecture. Use with caution. For more details, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal conjugation.
|
Synonyms[edit]
- (it is possible): ἔξεστι (éxesti)
Derived terms[edit]
- ἄπειμι (ápeimi)
- ἀπουσία (apousía)
- αὐτοουσία (autoousía)
- ἔνειμι (éneimi)
- ἔξειμι (éxeimi)
- ἔξεστι (éxesti)
- ἐξουσία (exousía)
- ἔπειμι (épeimi)
- ἐπιούσιος (epioúsios)
- ἐπιπρόσειμι (epipróseimi)
- ἐπισυμπάρειμι (episumpáreimi)
- ἐπισύνειμι (episúneimi)
- καταπερίειμι (kataperíeimi)
- μέτειμι (méteimi)
- μετουσία (metousía)
- οὐρανουσία (ouranousía)
- οὐσία (ousía)
- πάρειμι (páreimi)
- παρουσία (parousía)
- περίειμι (períeimi)
- περιουσία (periousía)
- πρόειμι (próeimi)
- προένειμι (proéneimi)
- προέξειμι (proéxeimi)
- πρόσειμι (próseimi)
- προσπάρειμι (prospáreimi)
- συμπάρειμι (sumpáreimi)
- συμπρόσειμι (sumpróseimi)
- σύνειμι (súneimi)
- συνένειμι (sunéneimi)
- συνουσία (sunousía)
- συνύπειμι (sunúpeimi)
- ὕπειμι (húpeimi)
- ὑπένειμι (hupéneimi)
- ὑπέρειμι (hupéreimi)
- ὤν (ṓn)
Descendants[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “εἰμί”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “εἰμί”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “εἰμί”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- εἰμί in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- εἰμί in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- εἰμί in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2022)
- “εἰμί”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G1510 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 768, 768 D
Categories:
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Ancient Greek terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁es-
- Ancient Greek terms inherited from Proto-Hellenic
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Proto-Hellenic
- Ancient Greek terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Ancient Greek 2-syllable words
- Ancient Greek terms with IPA pronunciation
- Ancient Greek terms with audio links
- Ancient Greek lemmas
- Ancient Greek verbs
- Ancient Greek oxytone terms
- Ancient Greek copulative verbs
- Ancient Greek impersonal verbs