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σεμνός ,, ή, όν, (σέβομαι)
A.revered, august, holy:
I. prop. of gods, e.g. Demeter, h.Cer.1,486; Hecate, Pi.P.3.79; Thetis, Id.N.5.25; Apollo, A.Th.800; Poseidon, S.OC55; Pallas Athena, ib.1090 (lyr.); at Athens the Erinyes were specially the σεμναὶ θεαί, Id.Aj.837, OC 90,458, Ar.Eq.1312, Th.224, Th.1.126, Autocl. ap. Arist.Rh.1398b26; or simply Σεμναί, A.Eu.383 (lyr.), 1041 (lyr.), E.Or.410; τὸ ς. ὄνομα their name, S.OC41; ς. βάθρον the threshold of their temple, ib.100; ς. τέλη their rites, ib. 1050 (lyr.).
2. of things divine, ὄργια ς. h.Cer.478, S.Tr.765; “θέμεθλα δίκης” Sol.4.14; “ὑγίεια” Simon.70; “θυσία” Pi.O.7.42; ς. ἄντρον the cave of Cheiron, Id.P.9.30, cf. O.5.18; ς. δόμος the temple of Apollo, Id.N.1.72; “παιάν” A.Pers.393; σέλμα ς. ἡμένων, of the Olympian gods, Id.Ag.183 (lyr.); ς. ἔργα, of the gods, Id.Supp.1037 (lyr.); “μυστήρια” S.Fr.804, E.Hipp.25; τέρμων οὐρανοῦ ib.746; ς. βίος devoted to the gods, Id.Ion 56; σεμνὰ φθέγγεσθαι, = εὔφημα, A.Ch.109 (v.l.), cf. Ar.Nu.315,364; ἦ πού τι ς. ἔστιν ὃ ξυναμπέχεις; A.Pr.521; τὸ ς. holiness, D.21.126.
II. of human or half-human beings, reverend, august, “ἐν θρόνῳ σεμνῷ σεμνὸν θωκέοντα” Hdt.2.173, cf. A.Ch.975, E.Supp.384, al.; “ς. θάλος Ἀλκαϊδᾶν” Pi.O.6.68; “τὸ σχῆμα σεμνὸς κοὐ ταπεινός” E.Fr.688; αἱ φαυλότεραι . . παρὰ τὰς σεμνὰς καθεδοῦνται beside the great ladies, Ar.Ec.617, cf. Isoc.3.42; “οἱ σεμνότατοι ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν” Pl.Phdr.257d; ἄνθρωπος οὐ ς., i.e. a nobody, Ar.Fr.52D.; opp. χαῦνος, Pl.Sph.227b (Comp.); opp. κομψός, X.Oec.8.19; “σεμνὸς οὐ προσώπου συναγωγαῖς ἀλλὰ βίου κατασκευαῖς” Isoc.9.44: c. dat., revered by . . , “ς. πόλει” Riv.Fil.57.379 (Crete); also, worthy of respect, honourable, 1 Ep.Ti.3.8, 11, Ep.Phil. 4.8.
2. of human things, august, stately, majestic, “θᾶκοι” A.Ag. 519; “ἱμάτια” Ar.Pl.940, cf. Ra.1061 (Comp.); “ταφή” X.HG3.3.1; πράγματα, ἔργα, Ar.V.1472, Isoc.12.213; “σεμνοτέραν τὴν πόλιν ποιῆσαι” Is.5.45; “οἰκία τοῦ γείτονος οὐδὲν σεμνοτέρα” D.3.26, cf. 29; “ψεύδεσι [τοῦ Ὁμήρου] ς. ἔπεστί τι” Pi.N.7.22; “λεγόντων . . περὶ αὐτοῦ ς. λόγους” Hdt.7.6; of Tragedy, Pl.Grg.502b; of style, Arist.Po.1458a21, cf.Rh. 1404b8 (Comp.); of certain metres, ib.1408b32; ἐπὶ τὸ ς. μιμεῖσθαι to imitate it in its noble qualities, Pl.Lg.814e; ς. τι λέγειν, πράσσειν, Id.R.382b, E.Tr.447; “σεμνὰ ἄττα μεμαθηκότας” Pl.Ep.342a; οὐδὲν ς. nothing very wonderful, Arist.EN1146a15; so τί ἂν εἴη τὸ ς. (sc. τοῦ νοῦ); Id.Metaph.1074b18; worthy of respect, E.IA996; σεμνόν ἐστι, c. inf., 'tis a noble, fine thing to . . , Pl.Cra.392a, Isoc.Ep.9.5.
3. metaph., ς. βρῶμα a noble dish, Aristopho 7, cf. Archestr.Fr.20; “ς. ὀσμή” Mnesim.4.60, etc.
III. in bad sense, proud, haughty, “τὰ σέμν᾽ ἔπη” S.Aj.1107; “σεμνότερος καὶ φοβερώτερος” And.4.18; τὸ ς. haughty reserve, E.Hipp.93, cf. Med.216.
2. in contempt or irony, solemn, pompous, “ς. καὶ ἅγιον” Pl.Sph.249a; τί σεμνὸν καὶ πεφροντικὸς βλέπεις; look grave and solemn, E.Alc.773; “τὸ ς. ἄγαν καὶ τραγικόν” Arist.Rh.1406b7: very freq. in Com., “ἀνελκτοῖς ὀφρύσι σεμνός” Cratin. 355; ὡς ς. οὑπίτριπτος how grand the rascal is! Ar.Pl.275; “ὡς ς. ὁ κατάρατος” Id.Ra.178; λόγοι ς. Id.V.1175; “σεμνὸς σεμνῶς χλανίδ᾽ ἕλκων” Ephipp.19.
IV. Adv. “-νῶς” A.Supp.193, E.Ion 1133, Ar.V.585, etc.; ὥσπερ κοχλίας σεμνῶς ἐπηρκὼς τὰς ὀφρῦς, of Plato, Amphis 13; “σεμνῶς κεκοσμημένος” X.Cyr.6.1.6, etc.; “περὶ εὐτελῶν ς. λέγειν” Arist.Rh.1408a13: Comp. “-ότερον” X.Mem.3.5.20: Sup. “-ότατα” Plb.15.31.7.
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 (75):
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