αὐτός

See also: αυτος, αυτός, and αὑτός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἀϝτός (awtós) — Cretan
αὑτός (hautós) — crasis with ὁ (ho)
αὐτοσί (autosí) — emphatic

Etymology

According to Beekes, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“again, away from”) + *to- (“that”); compare Proto-Germanic *auþijaz (“barren, empty”). Risch derives it from the Ancient Greek reflexes of those words, αὖ (aû, “back, again, other”) +‎ τόν (tón, “the”).^[1] Related to Phrygian αυτος (autos), thus probably representing a common innovation.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /au̯.tós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aʍˈtos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aɸˈtos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /afˈtos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /afˈtos/

Pronoun

αὐτός • (autós) (feminine αὐτή, neuter αὐτό); first/second declension

(without article) self
1. (in nominative, emphasizing the subject)
2. (reflexive pronoun, in oblique cases) himself, herself, itself, themselves
3. (in philosophy, of an abstract idea) by or in itself
(without article, in oblique cases, 3rd person personal pronoun) he, she, it, they
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.260–261, (wherein αὐτῇ refers to σχεδίην in line 251):^[1]
  ἐν δ’ ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τ’ ἐνέδησεν ἐν αὐτῇ,
  μοχλοῖσιν δ’ ἄρα τήν γε κατείρυσεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν.
  en d’ hupéras te kálous te pódas t’ enédēsen en autêi,
  mokhloîsin d’ ára tḗn ge kateírusen eis hála dîan.
  1919 translation by Augustus Taber Murray^[2]
  And he made fast in the raft braces and halyards and sheets,
  and then with levers forced it down into the bright sea.
(with definite article) same

Usage notes

The intended sense of αὐτός is generally defined by its grammatical context. When used as a lone nominal without an article, it is generally the third person personal pronoun. When appended to a nominal and not possessing the definite article it is "self". When combined with the definite article, either appended to a nominal or on its own, it is "same".

The neuter plural ταὐτά (tautá, “the same things”) (derived from τὰ αὐτά by crasis) is distinguished from ταῦτα (taûta) "these things" by the accent placement. The two sometimes occur together:

386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 85e:

οὗτος γὰρ ποιήσει περὶ πάσης γεωμετρίας ταὐτὰ ταῦτα, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μαθημάτων ἁπάντων

hoûtos gàr poiḗsei perì pásēs geōmetrías tautà taûta, kaì tôn állōn mathēmátōn hapántōn

For he will do the same as this with all geometry and every other branch of knowledge.

Inflection

First and second declension of αὐτός; αὐτή; αὐτό (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	αὐτός autós	αὐτή autḗ	αὐτό autó	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτοί autoí	αὐταί autaí	αὐτᾰ́ autắ
Genitive	αὐτοῦ autoû	αὐτῆς autês	αὐτοῦ autoû	αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐταῖν autaîn	αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτῶν autôn
Dative	αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτῇ autêi	αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐταῖν autaîn	αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐτοῖς autoîs	αὐταῖς autaîs	αὐτοῖς autoîs
Accusative	αὐτόν autón	αὐτήν autḗn	αὐτό autó	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτούς autoús	αὐτᾱ́ς autā́s	αὐτᾰ́ autắ
Vocative	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First and second declension of αὐτός; αὐτή; αὐτό (Epic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	αὐτός autós	αὐτή autḗ	αὐτό autó	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτοί autoí	αὐταί autaí	αὐτᾰ́ autắ
Genitive	αὐτοῦ / αὐτοῖο / αὐτόο autoû / autoîo / autóo	αὐτῆς autês	αὐτοῦ / αὐτοῖο / αὐτόο autoû / autoîo / autóo	αὐτοῖῐν autoîĭn	αὐταῖν / αὐταῖῐν / αὐτῇῐν autaî(ĭ)n / autêiĭn	αὐτοῖῐν autoîĭn	αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτᾱ́ων / αὐτέ͜ων / αὐτῶν autā́ōn / auté͜ōn / autôn	αὐτῶν autôn
Dative	αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτῇ autêi	αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτοῖῐν autoîĭn	αὐταῖν / αὐταῖῐν / αὐτῇῐν autaî(ĭ)n / autêiĭn	αὐτοῖῐν autoîĭn	αὐτοῖσῐ / αὐτοῖσῐν / αὐτοῖς autoîsĭ(n) / autoîs	αὐτῇσῐ / αὐτῇσῐν / αὐτῇς / αὐταῖς autêisĭ(n) / autêis / autaîs	αὐτοῖσῐ / αὐτοῖσῐν / αὐτοῖς autoîsĭ(n) / autoîs
Accusative	αὐτόν autón	αὐτήν autḗn	αὐτό autó	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτούς autoús	αὐτᾱ́ς autā́s	αὐτᾰ́ autắ
Vocative	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

αὐτερέτης (auterétēs)
αὐτοπαγής (autopagḗs)
αὐτοσχεδόν (autoskhedón)
αὑτοῦ (hautoû)
ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû)
ἐμαυτοῦ (emautoû)
σαυτοῦ (sautoû)
σεαυτοῦ (seautoû)
ταὐτότης (tautótēs)

Descendants

Greek: αυτός (aftós)
- → Turkish: aftos
Mariupol Greek: тос (tos), ато́с (atós)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “αὐτός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 173

“αὐτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“αὐτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“αὐτός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
αὐτός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
αὐτός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
αὐτός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
“αὐτός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G846 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
αὐτός in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[3], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- abstract idem, page 4.
- himself idem, page 400.
- myself idem, page 549.
- oneself idem, page 574.
- person idem, page 608.
- personally idem, page 608.
- self idem, page 750.
- singly idem, page 779.
- thyself idem, page 873.
- yourself idem, page 997.
Herbert Weir Smyth (1920) A Greek grammar for colleges. American Book Company.
Ernst Risch (1937) Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache. Berlin. 314.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “αὐτός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 173

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