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περιέχω , also περιεργ-ίσχω , Th.5.71; Aeol. περρέχω Sapph.Supp.25.9, Theoc.30.3: fut. περιέξω (and
A.“περισχήσω” Th.5.7): aor. περιέσχον, inf. περισχεῖν: aor. Med. περιεσχόμην, inf. περισχέσθαι :—encompass, embrace, surround, κυκλόθεν ὁδὸς π. [τὸ χωρίον] Lys.7.28; “ἡ περιέχουσα [πέλαγος] γῆ” Pl.Ti.25a, cf. Arist.Mete.354a6; “γραμμαὶ περιέχουσαι τὸ χωρίον” Pl.Men.85a, cf.Arist.Mech.851a14; “ ἡ περιέχουσα [ἶρις]” Id.Mete. 375a31; “τόπον κύκλῳ πέτραις περιεχόμενον” IG42(1).122.21 (Epid.); τὸ περιέχον the envelope of a seed, Thphr.HP1.11.1.
b. esp. of that which encompasses the earth or the universe, τὸν κόσμον πνεῦμα καὶ ἀὴρ π. Anaxim.2; “ὁ περὶ χθόν᾽ ἔχων αἰθήρ” E.Fr.919 (s.v.l.), cf. Thphr.CP3.17.4; “τὸ περιέχον πάντα ὁπόσα νοητὰ ζῷα” Pl.Ti.31a, cf. 33b; τὸ περιέχον the environment, Epicur.Nat.79 G.,al., Plot.2.3.14; “τὸ περιέχον ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας καὶ γῆν καὶ θάλατταν, ὃ καλοῦμεν οὐρανόν” Str. 16.2.35; ὁ περιέχων ἀήρ ῾ἠήρ) Hp.Lex 3, Arist. Mete.379a28, D.H.3.47, Plu.2.333f, etc.; ὁ περιέχων alone, Id.Cor.38; but usu. τὸ περιέχον, Anaxag.2, Arist.Juv.468a3, Ptol.Phas.p.10 H., S.E.M.8.286; τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ τὸ π. Arist.GC332a25, cf. Ph.253a13, 259b11; “φαμὲν τὸ μὲν π. τοῦ εἴδους εἶναι, τὸ δὲ περιεχόμενον τῆς ὕλης” Id.Cael.312a12, cf. Ph. 211b12.
c. τὸ π. the atmosphere, Plb.1.37.9, D.S.4.38, etc.; δυσκρασίαι τοῦ π. Plu.Alex.58.
2. embrace, τινὰ ταῖς χερσίν Id Ant. 79, cf. Alex.51, Philostr.VS2.5.3; “πατρὸς περὶ ἔχοντος” Simon. 115.1.
3. surround so as to guard, Plu.Caes.16, etc.:—but, Pass., to be shut in, beleaguered, Hdt.8.10; ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων κύκλῳ ib.79; πανταχόθεν ib.80, cf. X.Cyr.7.1.24 : metaph., to be hard pressed, Men. Epit.289; “περισχομένη κακότητι” A.R.3.95.
4. embrace, comprise, comprehend, Pl.Men.87d, etc.; “πλείω γένη” Arist.Pol.1285a2; “περιέχεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ὅλου τὰ πάντα” Pl.Prm.145c; contain, “βίβλος π. τὰς πράξεις” D.S.2.1; “λόγος π. ἐγκώμιον” Men.660; of a letter, J.AJ12.4.11: impers., περιέχει ἐν γραφῇ, folld. by a quotation, 1 Ep.Pet.2.6; καθὼς ἡ ὠνὴ π. as is contained in the deed of sale, Supp.Epigr.3.421.33 (Locr., ii A.D.).
b. in Logic, τὸ περιέχον universal, opp. τὰ περιεχόμενα, the individuals or particulars, Arist.Metaph.1023b27, cf. APr. 43b23; ὀνόματα περιέχοντα generic terms, Id.Rh.1407a31; καλοῦσι δ᾽ αὐτοὺς πλάτακας ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος from the generic name, Ath.7.309a.
5. Math., ὁ ὑπὸ δύο ἀριθμῶν περιεχόμενος [ἀριθμός] the product of two numbers, Euc.7 Def.19; but π. ἑαυτόν, of a number of which a higher power terminates in the same digit, Theol.Ar.33.
6. τὸν ἔλεγχον π. to be involved in, open to criticism, Phld.Rh.1.49 S.
II. surpass, excel, πάντα περρέχοισ᾽ ἄστρα, of the moon, Sapph. Supp.25.9; overcome, gain the victory or advantage, Th.5.7,8.105.
2. outflank the enemy, Id.5.71; “περιέσχον τῷ κέρᾳ οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι” Id.3.108,cf.5.73.
III. Med., hold one's hands round or over another: hence, protect, defend, c. gen. pers., περίσχεο (Ion. imper. aor. 2 Med.) “παιδὸς ἐῆος” Il.1.393 : c. acc., “οὕνεκά μιν περισχόμεθα” Od.9.199.
2. hold fast by, cling to, c. gen., “γούνων περισχομένη” A.R.4.82 (but c. acc., “περίσχετο γούνατα χερσίν” Id.3.706); “περιίσχετο κούρης” Mosch.2.11: hence, cleave to, be fond of a person or thing, “γενσάμενοι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν περιέξονται” Hdt.1.71, cf. 3.53, 5.40, 7.39, 160, etc.; τὠυτοῦ περιεχόμεθα we are compassing, aiming at the same end, Id.3.72, cf. Plu.Them.9; κρίσιν . . ἧς μᾶλλον περιέχομαι on which I place more reliance, Alciphr.2.4.
3. rarely c. inf., περιείχετο . . μένοντας μὴ ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν τάξιν clung to his resolution that they should stay and not leave their post, Hdt.9.57.
IV. Aeol. περρέχω, = ὑπερέχω, ὁπόσον τῷ ποδὶ περρέχει τᾶς γᾶς, τοῦτο χάρις, i.e. every inch of his stature is grace, Theoc.30.3.
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 (40):
    • Euclid, Elements, 7
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.53
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.72
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.39
    • Herodotus, Histories, 9.57
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.71
    • Herodotus, Histories, 5.40
    • Herodotus, Histories, 8.10
    • Lysias, On the Olive Stump, 28
    • New Testament, 1 Peter, 2.6
    • Plato, Parmenides, 145c
    • Plato, Meno, 87d
    • Plato, Meno, 85a
    • Plato, Timaeus, 33b
    • Plato, Timaeus, 25a
    • Plato, Timaeus, 31a
    • Strabo, Geography, 16.2.35
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.108
    • Thucydides, Histories, 5.73
    • Thucydides, Histories, 5.71
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.1.24
    • Homer, Iliad, 1.393
    • Homer, Odyssey, 9.199
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 3.706
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 3.95
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4.82
    • Polybius, Histories, 1.37.9
    • Plutarch, Alexander, 51
    • Plutarch, Alexander, 58
    • Plutarch, Caesar, 16
    • Thucydides, Histories, 8.105
    • Hippocrates, Lex, 3
    • Thucydides, Histories, 5.7
    • Plutarch, Themistocles, 9
    • Plutarch, Antonius, 79
    • Plutarch, Caius Marcius Coriolanus, 38
    • Diodorus, Historical Library, 2.1
    • Diodorus, Historical Library, 4.38
    • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae, 3.47
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Lives of the Sophists, 2.5.3
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