previous next

εἰμί The whole of the pres. ind. (except 2nd sg. εἶ) may be enclitic when εἰμί is the Copula; but the 3rd sg. is written ἔστι in certain cases of emphasis, e. g. ἔστι μοι, I have: when used as Verb Subst., it retains the accent in all persons.

II.of things, to be, exist, εἰ ἔστιν ἀληθέως [ἡ τράπεζα] Hdt.; ἕως ἂν πόλεμος ἦι so long as it last, Thuc.
III.to be, opp. to appearing to be, as esse to videri, τὸν ἐόντα λόγον the true story, Hdt.; τὰ ὄντα ἀπαγγέλλειν Thuc.; τῶι ὄντι, Lat. revera, in reality, in fact, Plat.
IV.foll. by the Relative, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅς, no one, Il., etc.; εἰσὶν οἵ, Lat. sunt qui, Thuc., etc.; ἐστὶν some things, id=Thuc.; also ἔστιν οἵ, for εἰσὶν οἵ, Hdt., etc.:—so withrelat. Particles, ἔστιν ἔνθα, Lat. est ubi, Xen., etc.; ἔστιν ὅπη, ἔσθ᾽ ὅπου, somewhere, or somehow, Plat., etc.; ἔστιν ὅπως in some manner, Hdt., etc.; ἔστιν ὅτε, ἔσθ᾽ ὅτε, sometimes, Soph., etc.
V.ἔστι impers., c. inf., like πάρεστι, it is possible, Hom., attic
B.to be, Copula connecting predicate with subject, both being in the same case, Hom., etc.
2.sometimes εἶναι with Part. represents finite Verb, ἦν τεθνηκώς, for ἐτεθνήκει, Aesch.; πεφυκός ἐστι πέφυκε, Ar.
II.the Inf. is redundant in some phrases, ἑκὼν εἶναι (v. ἑκών II); τὸ ἐπ᾽ ἐκείνοις εἶναι quantum in illis esset, Thuc.; τὸ σύμπαν εἶναι Hdt.; τὸ νῦν εἶναι Plat., etc.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
Search for in
How to enter text in Greek:
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: