ἀδύνατος

See also: αδύνατος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἀ- (a-, “not”) +‎ δυνατός (dunatós, “powerful, capable, possible”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.dý.na.tos/ → /aˈðy.na.tos/ → /aˈði.na.tos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.dý.na.tos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈdy.na.tos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈðy.na.tos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈðy.na.tos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈði.na.tos/

Adjective

ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτος • (adúnatos) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον); second declension

1. (of persons) unable
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.138
   • 540 BCE – 450 BCE, Epicharmus, Collected Works 272
   • 416 BCE, Euripides, Herakles 56
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 1379A.2
   • 1 CE – 100 CE, Onasander, Strategikos 1.13
   • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 483D
   • 446 BCE – 411 BCE, Eupolis, Collected Works 95
   1. (absolute) without strength, powerless, weak
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.9
      • 413 BCE, Euripides, Ion 596
      • 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 746
      • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians 49.4
      • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Against Timarchus 103
      • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Funeral Oration 73
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.28
      • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Hippias Minor 366B
      • 110 BCE – 35 BCE, Philodemus, Herculaneum Papyri 1457.8
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.16
      • 390 BCE, Plato, Hippias Major 296A
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 108
2. (of things) that cannot be done, impossible
   • 408 BCE, Euripides, Orestes 665
   • 412 BCE, Euripides, Helen 1043
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Democritus, Collected Works 58
   • 350 BCE, Aristotle, On the Heavens 280B.12
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 29B.5
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 34B.30
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 45A.35
   • 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Lynceus of Samos, Collected Works 1.12
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.32
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 2.81
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.91
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.106
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.59
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 338C
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.60
   • 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1370
   • 412 BCE, Euripides, Helen 811
   • 416 BCE, Euripides, Herakles 318
   • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 8
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 192B
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Parmenides 138D
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 15B
3. (adverbial) without power or skill, feebly
   • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Third Tetralogy 3.3
   • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Second Tetralogy 3.4
   • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Against Eratosthenes 3
   • 100 BCE – 1 BCE, Plato, Axiochus 364B
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric to Alexander 1435A.16
   • 110 BCE – 35 BCE, Philodemus, On Rhetoric 2.122

Inflection

Second declension of ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτος; ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον (Attic)

Number		Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτος adúnatos	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον adúnaton		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō		ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτοι adúnatoi	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτᾰ adúnata
Genitive		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́του adunátou	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́του adunátou		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοιν adunátoin	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοιν adunátoin		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́των adunátōn	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́των adunátōn
Dative		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τῳ adunátōi	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τῳ adunátōi		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοιν adunátoin	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοιν adunátoin		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοις adunátois	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τοις adunátois
Accusative		ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον adúnaton	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον adúnaton		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τους adunátous	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτᾰ adúnata
Vocative		ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτε adúnate	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτον adúnaton		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō	ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τω adunátō		ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτοι adúnatoi	ᾰ̓δῠ́νᾰτᾰ adúnata
Derived forms		Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
		ᾰ̓δῠνᾰ́τως adunátōs			ᾰ̓δῠνᾰτώτερος adunatṓteros			ᾰ̓δῠνᾰτώτᾰτος adunatṓtatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: αδύνατος (adýnatos)

Further reading

• “ἀδύνατος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀδύνατος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀδύνατος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀδύνατος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἀδύνατος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G102 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.
  • bad idem, page 58.
  • chimerical idem, page 130.
  • disabled idem, page 227.
  • helpless idem, page 396.
  • impossible idem, page 423.
  • impotent idem, page 423.
  • incapable idem, page 427.
  • incapacitated idem, page 427.
  • incompetent idem, page 429.
  • maimed idem, page 508.
  • powerless idem, page 631.
  • unable idem, page 905.
  • unattainable idem, page 907.
  • uninfluential idem, page 922.
  • unskilful idem, page 932.
  • weak idem, page 969.