A.“σεβήσομαι” POxy.1381.202 (ii A.D.): aor. “ἐσέφθην” S.Fr.164, Pl.Phdr.254b, Porph.Plot.12:—feel awe or fear before God,feel shame, οὔ νυ σέβεσθε; Il.4.242, cf. Ar.Nu.293; “τιμῶν καὶ σεβόμενος” Pl.Lg.729c; σεφθεῖσα awe-stricken, Id.Phdr. l.c.: rarely c. inf., dread or fear to do a thing, “ς. προσιδέσθαι . ., ἀντία φάσθαι” A.Pers.694 (lyr.); “μιαίνειν τὸ θεῖον” Pl.Ti.69d; “σέβεται καὶ φοβεῖται . . τό τι κινεῖν τῶν καθεστώτων” Id.Lg. 798b: so c. acc. rei, to fear to do it, Antipho 2.4.12: c. part., “ς. προσορῶν” Pl.Phdr.250e.
2. after Hom., c. acc. pers., revere, worship, “Κρονίδαν” Pi.P.6.25; “θεούς” A.Supp.921, etc.; πάντων ἀνάκτων κοινοβωμίαν ib.223; “Λατώ” Ar.Th.123; Λυκοῦργον σέβεσθαι worship him as a hero, Hdt.1.66, cf. 7.197; “προσορῶν ὡς θεὸν ς. τινά” Pl.Phdr.251a; do homage to Zeus, A.Pr.937: generally, pay honour or respect to . . , θνατοὺς ἄγαν ς. ib.543 (lyr.); “τὸ φίλον” S.OC187 (lyr.), cf. Ph.1163 (lyr.), etc.; “ς. τινὰ τύχης μάκαρος” E.IT648.
b. esp. of Jewish proselytes, “σεβομένη τὸν θεόν” Act.Ap.16.14, cf.J.AJ14.7.2; σεβόμενοι προσήλυτοι, Ἕλληνες, Act.Ap.13.43, 17.4; σεβόμεναι γυναῖκες ib.13.50.
3. of things, “τὰ βυβλία σεβόμενοι μεγάλως” Hdt.3.128; “ὄργια” Ar.Th.949; “ὦ Πιερία, σέβεταί σ᾽ Εὔιος” E.Ba.566 (lyr.); “τὸ σῶφρον αἰδούμενος ἅμα καὶ ς.” Pl.Lg.837c.
II. Act. σέβω is post-Hom., used only in pres. and impf., worship, honour, mostly of the gods, “ς. Δήμητρος πανήγυριν” Archil.120; “πατρὸς Ὀλυμπίοιοτιμάν” Pi.O.14.12; “θεούς” A.Th.596; “Νύμφας” Id.Eu.22; “Ἅιδην” S.Ant.777; τἀν Ἅιδου ib.780; “θεῶν θέσμια” Id.Aj. 713(lyr.), etc.; rare in Prose, “νομίζεται θεοὺς σέβειν” X.Mem.4.4.19, cf. Ar.Nu.600; but also of parents, S.OC1377, cf. Ant.511; of kings, Id.Aj.667, etc.; of suppliants, A.Eu.151 (lyr.); “λέγω κατ᾽ ἄνδρα, μὴ θεόν, σέβειν ἐμέ” Id.Ag.925; “αἰχμὴν . . μᾶλλον θεοῦ ς.” Id.Th.530; “ς. ὀνείρων φάσματα” Id.Ag.274; “τὰς ἐμὰς ἀρχὰς ς.” S.Ant.744 (εὖ σέβουσι is dub. cj. for εὐσεβοῦσι in A.Ag.338, cf. E.Ph.1320, Tr.85); σέβειν ἐν τιμῇ c. acc., A.Pers.166, Pl.Lg.647a: c. inf., ὑβρίζειν ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐ σέβω, i.e. τὸ ὑβρίζειν, I do not respect, approve it, A.Ag.1612; “τὸ μὴ ἀδικεῖν σέβοντες” Id.Eu.749: rarely of a god, “Ποσειδῶν . . τὰς ἐμὰς ἀρὰς σέβων” E.Hipp.896:—σέβομαι as Pass., to be reverenced, “ἡ δ᾽ οἴκοι [πόλις] πλέον δίκῃ σέβοιτ᾽ ἄν” S.OC760; τὸ σεβόμενον reverence, Plu. 2.1101d.
2. less freq. abs., to worship, to be religious, “τὸν σέβοντ᾽ εὐεργετεῖν” A.Eu.725, cf. 897; “οὐ γὰρ σέβεις” S.Ant.745; “κρίνοντες ἐν ὁμοίῳ καὶ σέβειν καὶ μή” Th.2.53; but in all these places an object shd. perh. be supplied from the context. (σέβομαι prob. orig. 'I shrink from . . ', of which σοβέω is the causal; perh. cogn. with Skt. tyajati 'desert, let go'.)
