ἐπέχω

From ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) +‎ ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, hold”).

ἐπέχω • (epékhō)

1. to have or hold upon
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.241:

     τῷ κεν ἐπισχοίης λιπαροὺς πόδας

     tôi ken episkhoíēs liparoùs pódas

     whereon thou mayest rest thy shining feet

   • New Testament, Epistle to the Philippians 2:16:

     λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες

     lógon zōês epékhontes

     holding forth the word of life

   1. to hold out to, present, offer
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 22.494:

        τῶν δ’ ἐλεησάντων κοτύλην τις τυτθὸν ἐπέσχε

        tôn d’ eleēsántōn kotúlēn tis tutthòn epéskhe

        and of them that are touched with pity, one holds forth his cup for a moment

      • 413 BCE, Euripides, Ion 1492:

        γάλακτι δ’ οὐκ ἐπέσχον

        gálakti d’ ouk epéskhon

        I did not offer you milk

      1. to extend, spread out
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 550b.6
      2. to hold, contain
         • 230 CE – 238 CE, Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 2.24.2
      3. to enjoin, impose
         • 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, Secret History 17
         • 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, The Vandalic War 1.8
   2. to direct towards, aim at
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 2.89:

        ἔπεχε νῦν σκοπῷ τόξον

        épekhe nûn skopôi tóxon

        Now direct your bow towards the mark

      1. (intransitive) to aim at, attack
         • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 17.91:

           δαιμονίη, τί μοι ὧδ’ ἐπέχεις κεκοτηότι θυμῷ;

           daimoníē, tí moi hôd’ epékheis kekotēóti thumôi?

           Good woman, why dost thou assail me with angry heart?

         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pyrrhus 16:

           ἄνδρα κατιδὼν Ἰταλὸν ἐπέχοντα τῷ Πύρρῳ

           ándra katidṑn Italòn epékhonta tôi Púrrhōi

           observing that an Italian man was intent upon Pyrrhus

      2. to direct one's mind; to intend, purpose
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus 8:

           ἐπεῖχε τῷ πολέμῳ τὴν γνώμην

           epeîkhe tôi polémōi tḕn gnṓmēn

           he directed his thoughts to war

         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.80.4:

           τῷ Κροίσῳ ἄχρηστον ᾖ τὸ ἱππικόν, τῷ δή τι καὶ ἐπεῖχε ἐλλάμψεσθαι ὁ Λυδός

           tôi Kroísōi ákhrēston êi tò hippikón, tôi dḗ ti kaì epeîkhe ellámpsesthai ho Ludós

           Croesus' cavalry, which the Lydian intended to distinguish himself, might be of no use

      3. to stand facing (in battle)
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.31.3
   3. to hold back, keep in check; to withhold; to confine
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.244:

        ἐπέσχε δὲ καλὰ ῥέεθρα ὄζοισιν πυκινοῖσι

        epéskhe dè kalà rhéethra ózoisin pukinoîsi

        it held back the fair streams with its thick branches

      • 408 BCE, Euripides, The Phoenician Women 866:

        Ἐτεοκλέους μὲν οὕνεκ’ ἂν κλῄσας στόμα χρησμοὺς ἐπέσχον

        Eteokléous mèn hoúnek’ àn klḗisas stóma khrēsmoùs epéskhon

        For Eteocles I would have closed my lips and withheld all response

      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Cato the Younger 28:

        ἐπέσχε τῇ χειρὶ τὸ στόμα καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἀπέκλεισεν

        epéskhe têi kheirì tò stóma kaì tḕn phōnḕn apékleisen

        but he covered his hand over his mouth and shut off his speech

        1. I stay, adjourn, suspend
           • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.63.4:

             καὶ τὴν κατασκαφὴν ἐπέσχον

             kaì tḕn kataskaphḕn epéskhon

             they abstained from razing it

        2. I stop, hinder from
           • 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 160:

             ὧν ἐπισχήσω σ’ ἐγώ

             hôn episkhḗsō s’ egṓ

             but I shall stop you

      1. to wait, pause, refrain
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.139.1:

           ὅμως δὲ τῇ γέ μοι φαίνεται εἶναι ἀληθὲς οὐκ ἐπισχήσω

           hómōs dè têi gé moi phaínetai eînai alēthès ouk episkhḗsō

           but I will not refrain from saying what seems to me to be true

         • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 1369:

           εἰ δ’ ἐφέξετον

           ei d’ ephéxeton

           if you tarry

         • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 697:

           ἐπίσχες ἔστ’ ἂν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ προσμάθῃς.

           epískhes ést’ àn kaì tà loipà prosmáthēis.

           Wait until you have learned the rest as well.

         1. (with genitive) to stop from
            • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.2.12:

              καὶ ὅπου ἂν ἀναπαύωνται ἢ ἐπίσχωσι τῆς πορείας

              kaì hópou àn anapaúōntai ḕ epískhōsi tês poreías

              And wherever they were to rest or halt from their march

         2. (Scepticism) to suspend judgement, doubt
            • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 2.1.11
            • 280 BCE – 220 BCE, Philo of Byzantium, Compendium of Mechanics 1.387
            • 160 CE – 210 CE, Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism 1.196
            • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.955c
            • 108 CE, Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus 1.7.5
   4. to reach or extend over
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 21.407:

        ἑπτὰ δ’ ἐπέσχε πέλεθρα πεσών

        heptà d’ epéskhe pélethra pesṓn

        He stretched over seven roods in his fall

      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.19.1:

        ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐλαίης τοὺς κλάδους γῆν πᾶσαν ἐπισχεῖν

        apò dè tês elaíēs toùs kládous gên pâsan episkheîn

        of which the shoots spread over the whole earth

   5. to have power over or occupy
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.62.4:

        πλὴν ὅσον ἂν ὁ πεζὸς ἡμῶν ἐπέχῃ

        plḕn hóson àn ho pezòs hēmôn epékhēi

        except as much as our troops occupy

      1. to prevail, predominate
         • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 5.5.6:

           τῶν ἐτησίων ἐπεχόντων

           tôn etēsíōn epekhóntōn

           while the Etesian winds prevail

         1. (of time) to continue
            • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 165e:

              ἤλεγχεν ἂν ἐπέχων καὶ οὐκ ἀνιεὶς

              ḗlenkhen àn epékhōn kaì ouk anieìs

              and would have argued continuously and unceasingly

• πᾰρεπέχω (parepékhō)
• προσεπέχω (prosepékhō)
• σῠνεπέχω (sunepékhō)

• “ἐπέχω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐπέχω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐπέχω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐπέχω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐπέχω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἐπέχω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1907 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible