Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon

A. as Prep. with gen.:

I. of Place or Space, before, “στῆ πρόσθ᾽ αὐτοῖο” Il.5.170; “πεζὸς πρόσθ᾽ ἵππων” 13.385, cf. 392, etc.; “κατὰ τεύχε᾽ ἔθηκε πρόσθεν Ἀχιλλῆος” 19.13; “π. ποδῶν” Od.22.4, cf. Il.23.877; ἐκ δὲ τὼ ἀΐξαντε πυλάων π. μαχέσθην before, i.e. outside, 12.145, cf. 9.473; “νῆσος . . π. Σαλαμῖνος τόπων” A.Pers.447; π. Μυρμιδόνων πολεμιζέμεν in front of them, at their head, Il.16.220; ἐν τῷ π. τοῦ στρατεύματος in front of . . , X.Cyr.5.3.52; “εἰς τὸ π. τῶν ὅπλων ἐκαθέζοντο” Id.An.3.1.33; “εἰς τὸ π. τινῶν θεῖναί τι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν” Pl.R.618a: with collat. notion of defence, [“σάκος] πρόσθε στέρνοιο φέρων” Il.7.224; “στὰς πρόσθεν νέκυος” 16.321; τάων οὔτοι π. ἵσταμαι I defend them not, 4.54: hence, for, on behalf of, “π. φίλων τοκέων ἀλόχων τε καὶ υἱῶν” 21.587, cf. 16.833; “ὅς τε ἑῆς π. πόλιος λαῶν τε πέσῃσιν” Od.8.524.

2. with Verbs of motion, “π. ἕθεν φεύγοντα” Il.5.56, 80, 20.402; “π. δὲ κί᾽ αὐτοῦ” 15.307.

3. metaph., “οὐδὲν ἐς π. κακῶν” E.Hec.961: of preference, “ἄγειν τινὰ π. τινός” Id.Ba.225; “π. τιθέναι τί τινος” Id.Hec.129 (anap.), cf. IG22.1299.58; “αἰσχρὰ π. τοῦ καλοῦ ζητεῖν” E.Fr.659.7.

II. of Time, before, “πρόσθ᾽ ἄλλων” Il.2.359, cf.S.Ph.778; τοῖιν δ᾽ ἔγνω π. first of the twain, Il.13.66, cf. Hes.Th. 746; “ἐμοῦ π.” A.Pers.529; “τοῦ χρόνου π. θανοῦμαι” S.Ant.462; “π. ἑσπέρας” X.Cyr.7.5.43.—The gen. sts. stands before πρόσθεν, Il.4.54, etc., cf. supr. When it seems to be folld. by a dat., this dat. must be connected with the Verb, and πρόσθεν taken as Adv., v. infr. B. 1.1.

B. as Adv.:

I. of Place or Space, before, in front, “π. λέων ὄπιθεν δὲ δράκων” Il.6.181, Hes.Th.323; “π. δέ οἱ δόρυ τ᾽ ἔσχε καὶ ἀσπίδα” Il.5.300, cf. 315; “π. δέ οἱ ποίησε γαλήνην” Od.5.452; “πρόσθ᾽ ὁρόων θάνατον” Il.20.481; ὁ π. the front rank man, X.Cyr.2.2.8; τὰ π. ib.6.3.2; τὰ π. (sc. σκέλη) the forelegs (of a horse), Id.Eq.1.12; “ἡ χώρα ἡ π.” Plb. 3.80.3; προῆγε εἰς τὸ π. on, forward, Id.4.66.5; “ἀεὶ τοῦ π. ὀρεγόμενοι” Id.3.84.12: with collat. notion of defence, “π. σάκεα σχέθον” Il.4.113; ἥ τοι π. στᾶσα βέλος ἄμυνεν ib.129.

2. with Verbs of motion, before, in front, “π. ἔφευγε” 22.158; “ἥ οἱ π. ἰοῦσα” 20.95; “π. ἡγεμονεύειν” Od.22.400, 24.155; ἵππους π. βαλεῖν, v. βάλλω A.11.5; ἐς τὸ πρόσθε παριέναι forward, Hdt.8.89; “πάριτ᾽ εἰς τὸ π.” Ar.Ach.43; “εἰς τὸ π. προΐωμεν” Pl.R.437a, etc.; μηδεμίαν αἰσχύνην π. ποιεῖσθαι allow to stand in the way, Id.Lg.732b.

3. metaph., “εἰς τὸ π. ἔτι ζητήσαντες” Id.Sph.258c; “τοὺς ὄπισθεν εἰς τὸ π. ἄξομεν” S.Aj.1249.

II. of Time, before, formerly, erst, “οὗ καὶ π. ἀρίστη φαίνετο βουλή” Il.7.325, etc.; “οὔποτε π.” S.Aj.318; “οὔπω π.” X.An.5.4.18; “ἔτι π.” Pl.Sph.242d; “σμικρῷ π.” Id.Lg.969b; οἱ π. ἄνδρες the men of old, Il.9.524; “τοῦ π. Κάδμου τοῦ πάλαι τ᾽ Ἀγήνορος” S.OT268; “ὁ π. γεννηθείς” Id.OC375; ἡ π. the elder, E.Ph.58; of things, οἱ π. πόνοι the former, earlier labours, A.Supp.52 (lyr.); “ἁ π. ἱππεία” S.El.504 (lyr.); “ὁ π. λόγος” Id.OT851; “ἡ π. ἡμέρα” X.An.2.3.1, etc.; τὰ π. what was said above, Pl.Phdr.238b; also τὸ π., as Adv., formerly, Il.23.583, Od.4.688; ταὐτὰ τῷ π. the same as before, Pl.Phdr.241b; “τὰ π.” A. Ag.19.

C. folld. by a Particle, πρόσθεν, πρὶν . . before . . , mostly with a neg., “οὐ πρόσθεν . . , πρίν γε . . με ἴδηται” Od.17.7, cf. X.An.1.1.10, Cyr. 1.2.8, etc.; οὐ π. πρὶν ἤ . . ib.1.4.23: without a neg., “π. πρὶν τυχεῖν” Pi.P.2.91: also “π. ἢ . . ” S.OT736, El.82, 1333; ποτιτάσσει . . μὴ π. ἐξελθεῖν ἢ τὰν ματέρα κατακάνῃ Anon.Mythogr. in PSI9.1091.3.

2. sooner, rather, π. ἂν ἀποθάνοιεν ἢ τὰ ὅπλα παραδοίησαν would die sooner than . . , X.An.2.1.10.