Ancient Greek

Verb

σπεύδω • ‎(speúdō)

1. (transitive)
   1. I set going, urge on, hasten
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.38

        πρὸς ὧν τὴν ὄψιν ταύτην τόν τε γάμον τοι τοῦτον ἔσπευσα

        It is because of that vision that I hurried your marriage

      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 19.137

        οἱ δὲ γάμον σπεύδουσιν

        They urge a marriage

      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 804

        καὶ σπεύσαθ᾽, οἱ μὲν Τεῦκρον ἐν τάχει μολεῖν,

        Hurry, some of you, to speed Teucer's coming;

   2. I procure quickly, get ready
      • 413 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 1352

        κλίμακας σπεύδοντες

        making haste to let down the ladders

   3. I seek eagerly, strive after
      • 6th century BC, Theognis of Megara, Elegies 335

        Μηδὲν ἄγαν σπεύδειν

        be not overly eager in any matter

2. (intransitive) I press on, hasten
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 11.119

     σπεύδουσ᾽ ἱδρώουσα κραταιοῦ θηρὸς ὑφ᾽ ὁρμῆς

     hasting and sweating before the onset of the mighty beast

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 3.4.49

     καταλιπὼν τὸν ἵππον ἔσπευδε πεζῇ

     he left his horse behind and hurried forward on foot

   1. (with infinitive) I am eager to
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 4.22

        κῦδος ὄρσαι σπεύδει Καμαρίνᾳ

        hurries to rouse glory for Camarina

   2. I am troubled in mind
      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Exodus 15.15

        τότε ἔσπευσαν ἡγεμόνες Ἐδώμ

        Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed.

Inflection

Derived terms

Related terms

• ἐσπευσμένως ‎(espeusménōs)
• σπεῦδε βραδέως ‎(speûde bradéōs)
• σπεῦσῐς ‎(speûsis)
• σπευστέον ‎(speustéon)
• σπευστῐκός ‎(speustikós)
• σπευστός ‎(speustós)
• σπουδή ‎(spoudḗ)

References

• σπεύδω in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• «σπεύδω» in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• «σπεύδω» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “G4692”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979