Ancient Greek

Verb

ἐπέχω • ‎(epékhō)

1. I have or hold upon
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.241

     τῷ κεν ἐπισχοίης λιπαροὺς πόδας

     whereon thou mayest rest thy shining feet

   • New Testament, Epistle to the Philippians 2.16

     λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες

     holding forth the word of life

   1. I hold out to, present, offer
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 22.494

        τῶν δ᾽ ἐλεησάντων κοτύλην τις τυτθὸν ἐπέσχε

        and of them that are touched with pity, one holds forth his cup for a moment

      • 413 BCE, Euripides, Ion 1492

        γάλακτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπέσχον

        I did not offer you milk

      1. I extend, spread out
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 550.b.6
      2. I hold, contain
         • 170 CE – 250 CE, Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 2.24.2
      3. I enjoin, impose
         • 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, Secret History 17
         • 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, The Vandalic War 1.8
   2. I direct towards, aim at
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 2.89

        ἔπεχε νῦν σκοπῷ τόξον

        Now direct your bow towards the mark

      1. (intransitive) I aim at, attack
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 17.91

           δαιμονίη, τί μοι ὧδ᾽ ἐπέχεις κεκοτηότι θυμῷ;

           Good woman, why dost thou assail me with angry heart?

         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pyrrhus 16

           ἄνδρα κατιδὼν Ἰταλὸν ἐπέχοντα τῷ Πύρρῳ

           observing that an Italian man was intent upon Pyrrhus

      2. I direct my mind; I intend, purpose
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Aem. 8

           ἐπεῖχε τῷ πολέμῳ τὴν γνώμην

           he directed his thoughts to war

         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.80.4

           τῷ Κροίσῳ ἄχρηστον ᾖ τὸ ἱππικόν, τῷ δή τι καὶ ἐπεῖχε ἐλλάμψεσθαι ὁ Λυδός

           Croesus' cavalry, which the Lydian intended to distinguish himself, might be of no use

      3. I stand facing (in battle)
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.31.3
   3. I hold back, keep in check; I withhold; I confine
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.244

        ἐπέσχε δὲ καλὰ ῥέεθρα ὄζοισιν πυκινοῖσι

        it held back the fair streams with its thick branches

      • 408 BCE, Euripides, The Phoenician Women 866

        Ἐτεοκλέους μὲν οὕνεκ᾽ ἂν κλῄσας στόμα χρησμοὺς ἐπέσχον

        For Eteocles I would have closed my lips and withheld all response

      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Cato the Younger 28

        ἐπέσχε τῇ χειρὶ τὸ στόμα καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἀπέκλεισεν

        but he covered his hand over his mouth and shut off his speech

      1. 1. I stay, adjourn, suspend
            • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.63.4

              καὶ τὴν κατασκαφὴν ἐπέσχον

              they abstained from razing it

         2. I stop, hinder from
            • 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 160

              ὧν ἐπισχήσω σ᾽ ἐγώ

              but I shall stop you

      2. I wait, pause, refrain
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.139.1

           ὅμως δὲ τῇ γέ μοι φαίνεται εἶναι ἀληθὲς οὐκ ἐπισχήσω

           but I will not refrain from saying what seems to me to be true

         • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 1369

           εἰ δ᾽ ἐφέξετον

           if you tarry

         • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 697

           ἐπίσχες ἔστ᾽ ἂν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ προσμάθῃς.

           Wait until you have learned the rest as well.

         1. (with genitive) I stop from
            • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.2.12

              καὶ ὅπου ἂν ἀναπαύωνται ἢ ἐπίσχωσι τῆς πορείας

              And wherever they were to rest or halt from their march

         2. (Scepticism) I suspend judgement, doubt
            • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 2.1.11
            • 280 BCE – 220 BCE, Philo of Byzantium, Compendium of Mechanics 1.387
            • 160 CE – 210 CE, Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism 1.196
            • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.955.c
            • 108 CE, Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus 1.7.5
   4. I reach or extend over
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.407

        ἑπτὰ δ᾽ ἐπέσχε πέλεθρα πεσών

        He stretched over seven roods in his fall

      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.19.1

        ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐλαίης τοὺς κλάδους γῆν πᾶσαν ἐπισχεῖν

        of which the shoots spread over the whole earth

   5. I have power over or occupy
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.62.4

        πλὴν ὅσον ἂν ὁ πεζὸς ἡμῶν ἐπέχῃ

        except as much as our troops occupy

      1. I prevail, predominate
         • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 5.5.6

           τῶν ἐτησίων ἐπεχόντων

           while the Etesian winds prevail

         1. (of time) I continue
            • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 165.e

              ἤλεγχεν ἂν ἐπέχων καὶ οὐκ ἀνιεὶς

              and would have argued continuously and unceasingly

Inflection

Derived terms

• πᾰρεπέχω ‎(parepékhō)
• προσεπέχω ‎(prosepékhō)
• σῠνεπέχω ‎(sunepékhō)

Related terms

References

• ἐπέχω in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἐπέχω in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἐπέχω in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• «ἐπέχω» in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• «ἐπέχω» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἐπέχω in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• “G1907”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979