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ἀφορμ-ή , ἡ,
A.starting-point, esp. in war, base of operations, “ἀναχώρησίς τε καὶ ἀ.” Th.1.90, cf. Plb.1.41.6, etc.; place of safety, E.Med.342.
2. generally, starting-point, origin, occasion or pretext, “ἀφορμαὶ λόγων” Id.Hec.1239, Ph.199; “ἀφορμὴν παρέχειν” D.18.156; “δεδωκέναι” Id.21.98, cf. 2 Ep.Cor.5.12; “λαβεῖν ἀ.” Isoc.4.61, Ep.Rom.7.8; “εὑρεῖν” BGU615.6(ii A. D.), 923.22 (i/ii A. D.); “ἵνα ἀ. γένοιτο τιμῆς” Inscr.Prien.105.16 (i B. C.); “ἀ. καὶ πρόφασις” Plb. 2.52.3; occasion, origin of an illness, Hp.Epid.2.1.11, Sor.1.29; εἰδέ τις οἴεται μικρὰν ἀ. εἶναι σιτηρέσιον τοῖς στρατευομένοις ὑπάρχειν a small inducement, D.4.29; “τὸ γὰρ εὖ πράττειν παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἀ. τοῦ κακὼς φρονεῖν” Id.1.23; instigation, incitement, POxy.237 vii 21 (ii A. D.).
3. means with which one begins a thing, resources, “ἀ. τοῦ βίου” Lys.24.24; “εἰς τὸν βίον” X.Mem.3.12.4; “τίνας εἶχεν ἀφορμὰς ἡ πόλις;” D.18.233; “ἀφελεῖν τὴν ἀ. δι᾽ ἣν ὑβρίζει” Id.21.98; πίστις ἀ. μεγίστη πρὸς χρηματισμόν good faith is the best asset for business, Id.36.44, cf. 11.16; ἀ. ἐπί . . Id.3.33; esp. means of war, And.1.109; “ἀ. εἰς ξένους χιλίους” means for levying 1000 mercenaries, X.HG4.8.33; ἀ. ἔργων means for undertaking . . , Id.Mem.2.7.11, cf.3.5.11; “πρὸς ἀφορμὴν ἐμπορίας ἢ γεωργίας” Arist.Pol.1320a39; “πάντων ἀ. τῶν καλῶν” Philem.110.
4. capital of a banker, etc., Lys.Fr.1.2, X.Mem.2.7.12, Lycurg.26,D.14.30,36.11; ἀφορμῆς δίκη suit for restitution of capital, Arg.D.36.
5. Rhet., food for argument, material, subject, “ὑποθέσεις καὶ ἀφορμαὶ λόγων” Luc.Rh.Pr.18, cf. Men.Rh.p.334S., Aps.p.264H.
6. aptitude, inclination, “εἰς φιλανθρωπίαν” Phld.Ir.p.53 W. (pl.).
II. Stoic term for repulsion (opp. ὁρμή), Chrysipp.Stoic.3.42, cf. 40, Simp. in Epict.p.22D.
III. release of water from sluice, PAmh.2.143.17 (iv A. D.).
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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hide References (28 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (28):
    • Andocides, On the Mysteries, 109
    • Demosthenes, Olynthiac 3, 33
    • Demosthenes, Philippic 1, 29
    • Demosthenes, Olynthiac 1, 23
    • Demosthenes, Reply to Philip, 16
    • Demosthenes, On the Crown, 233
    • Demosthenes, On the Navy, 30
    • Demosthenes, On the Crown, 156
    • Demosthenes, Against Midias, 98
    • Demosthenes, For Phormio, 11
    • Demosthenes, For Phormio, 44
    • Euripides, Hecuba, 1239
    • Euripides, Medea, 342
    • Euripides, Phoenician Women, 199
    • Isocrates, Panegyricus, 61
    • Lycurgus, Against Leocrates, 26
    • Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension, 24
    • New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 5.12
    • New Testament, Romans, 7.8
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.90
    • Xenophon, Hellenica, 4.8.33
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 2.7.11
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 2.7.12
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 3.12.4
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 3.5.11
    • Polybius, Histories, 1.41.6
    • Polybius, Histories, 2.52.3
    • Lucian, Rhetorum praeceptor, 18
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