ἔμπορος

See also: έμπορος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἐν- (en-, “on”) +‎ πόρος (póros, “journey”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ém.po.ros/ → /ˈem.po.ros/ → /ˈem.bo.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ém.po.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈem.po.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.po.ros/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /ˈem.po.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bo.ros/

Noun

ἔμπορος • (émporos) m (genitive ἐμπόρου); second declension (Epic, Attic, Koine)

1. one who is on a journey: wayfarer, traveller
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 661
   • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 999
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 25
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 303
2. a merchant, trader
   • 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.39:

     τοῖσι μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἀγορὴ καὶ Ἕλληνές σφι ἔωσι ἐπιδήμιοι ἔμποροι, οἳ δὲ φέροντες ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν ἀπ’ ὦν ἔδοντο

     toîsi mèn àn ēî agorḕ kaì Héllēnés sphi éōsi epidḗmioi émporoi, hoì dè phérontes es tḕn agorḕn ap’ ôn édonto

     For some if there is a market and resident Greek merchants are there, they bring it into the market and sell it.

   • 431 BCE – 404 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.31

Declension

Second declension of ὁ ἔμπορος; τοῦ ἐμπόρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἔμπορος ho émporos	τὼ ἐμπόρω tṑ empórō	οἱ ἔμποροι hoi émporoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἐμπόρου toû empórou	τοῖν ἐμπόροιν toîn empóroin	τῶν ἐμπόρων tôn empórōn
Dative	τῷ ἐμπόρῳ tōî empórōi	τοῖν ἐμπόροιν toîn empóroin	τοῖς ἐμπόροις toîs empórois
Accusative	τὸν ἔμπορον tòn émporon	τὼ ἐμπόρω tṑ empórō	τοὺς ἐμπόρους toùs empórous
Vocative	ἔμπορε émpore	ἐμπόρω empórō	ἔμποροι émporoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἐμπορεῖον (emporeîon)
• ἐμπόρευμα (empóreuma)
• ἐμπορεύομαι (emporeúomai)
• ἐμπορευτικός (emporeutikós)
• ἐμπορία (emporía)
• ἐμποριάρχης (emporiárkhēs)
• ἐμπορίζομαι (emporízomai)
• ἐμπορικός (emporikós)
• ἐμπόριον (empórion)

Descendants

• > Greek: έμπορος (émporos) (inherited)

Further reading

• “ἔμπορος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “ἔμπορος” in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἔμπορος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἔμπορος” in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• ἔμπορος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• “ἔμπορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • dealer idem, page 198.
  • merchant idem, page 525.
  • trader idem, page 885.
  • traveller idem, page 890.
  • voyager idem, page 958.
  • wholesale dealer idem, page 977.