μέχρι

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μέχρῐς (mékhrĭs) — before vowels

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *méǵʰ(s)ri (locative), from *me (“with”) (see also μετά (metá)) + *ǵʰes- (“hand”) (whence χείρ (kheír, “hand”)). Cognate with its zero-grade ἄχρι (ákhri, “utterly, as far as”), Old Armenian մերձ (merj, “near, by”) and Albanian ndjerë (“until, near”).

The genitive is from the PIE ablative of comparison/extent.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mé.kʰri/ → /ˈme.xri/ → /ˈme.xri/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mé.kʰri/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈme.kʰri/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈme.xri/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈme.xri/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈme.xri/

Adverb

μέχρῐ • (mékhrĭ)

1. until

Conjunction

μέχρῐ • (mékhrĭ)

1. until

Preposition

μέχρι • (mékhri) (governs the genitive)

1. of spatial extension: as far as
   • 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.89.2:

     τῆς δὲ Συρίης τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον καὶ τὸ μέχρι Αἰγύπτου πᾶν Παλαιστίνη καλέεται

     tês dè Suríēs toûto tò khōríon kaì tò mékhri Aigúptou pân Palaistínē kaléetai

     This part of Syria as far as Egypt is all called Palestine.

2. of temporal extension: until
3. of general extent: to the point of, so far as

Usage notes

The general rule of μέχρῐς (mékhrĭs) being used before vowels only holds true in poetry, and is generally (but not always) ignored in prose works, with μέχρι being used regardless of what follows.

Related terms

• ἄχρι (ákhri)

Descendants

• Greek: μέχρι (méchri)

Further reading

• “μέχρι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μέχρι”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μέχρι”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μέχρι 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
• G3360 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • far idem, page 306.
  • till idem, page 874.
  • up idem, page 937.
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Greek

Alternative forms

• μέχρις (méchris)

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek μέχρι (mékhri).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmexɾi/
• Hyphenation: μέ‧χρι

Preposition

μέχρι • (méchri)

1. until, till, til, 'til

   θα μείνω μέχρι… ― tha meíno méchri… ― I will stay until…

   μέχρι το 1975 ― méchri to 1975 ― until 1975

2. until, as far as

   μέχρι τέλους ― méchri télous ― as far as the end

   Περπατάω μέχρι την ταβέρνα.

   Perpatáo méchri tin tavérna.

   I walked as far as the taverna.

Synonyms

• έως (éos) (preposition)
• ως (os) (preposition)
• ωσότου (osótou) (conjunction)
• ώσπου (óspou) (conjunction)

Derived terms

• μέχρι αποδείξεως του εναντίου (méchri apodeíxeos tou enantíou, “until you've proven otherwise”, adverb)
• μέχρι ενός (méchri enós, “but one, save for one”, adverb) (e.g., all but one survived)
• μέχρι εσχάτων (méchri escháton, “to the end, until the end”, adverb) (no matter the cost)
• μέχρι κεραίας (méchri keraías, “exactingly, meticulously”, adverb)
• μέχρι να (méchri na, “until, so far as, so much as, so long as”, conjunction) [with present or future tense verb] (simultaneous, time shared or interrupting event)
• μέχρι να πεις κύμινο (méchri na peis kýmino, “in the blink of an eye”, adverb)
• μέχρι που (méchri pou) μέχρι (που) (méchri (pou)) μέχρις όπου (méchris ópou, “until, so far as, so much as, so long as [spatially or temporally]”, conjunction) (past tense only, simultaneous, time shared or interrupting event)
• μέχρι υπερβολής (méchri ypervolís, “to excess, to the point of excess”, adverb)