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ἰού or ἰοῦ (v. sub fin.), Interj., a loud cry expressive of sorrow, joy, or surprise,
1. of grief of annoyance, usu. twice repeated, “ἰοὺ ἰού” D.19.209; ἰ. ἰ. δύστηνος or δύστηνε, S.Tr.1143, OT1071; ἰ. ἰ. βοᾶν, κεκραγέναι, Ar.Nu.543, Pax345: c. gen., “ἰ. ἰ. τῶν . . κιγκλίδων” Jul. Caes.330d: rarely once, φῦ （φεῦ codd.), “ἰ. τῆς ἀσβόλου” Ar.Th.245; or thrice, Id.Pax110: with other Interj., “ἰ. ἰ. ὢ ὢ κακά” A.Ag.1214; “ἰ. ἰ. πόπαξ” Id.Eu.143 (lyr.).
2. of joyful surprise, hallo!, hurrah!, Id.Ag.25, E.Cyc.464, 576, Ar.Eq.1096, Pl.R.432d, Grg.499b, Smp. 223a. (Sch.Ar.Pax345,316 says that ἰοὺ ἰού is of woe, ἰοῦ ἰοῦ of joy: the rule is not observed in codd. In Att. Poets it sts. stands extra versum, A.Ag.25, Ar.Nu.1.)
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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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (18):
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