Ancient Greek edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰi-ǵʰn̥h₁-, reduplicated nasal-infix present of the root *ǵʰeh₁- (to go, walk). Cognate with Old English gān (English go) and Sanskrit जहाति (jáhāti, to abandon, avoid). The reduplicating syllable /ki/ was reinterpreted as part of the root and extended beyond the present and imperfect tenses to the entire conjugation.

Pronunciation edit

 

Verb edit

κῐχᾱ́νω (kikhā́nō) (poetic)

  1. to overtake
  2. to come upon, find
  3. to catch, grip, hit
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 12.122:
      δείδω μή σ᾽ ἐξαῦτις ἐφορμηθεῖσα κίχῃσι / τόσσῃσιν κεφαλῇσι, τόσους δ᾽ ἐκ φῶτας ἕληται
      I fear that [Scylla] will be incited to reach out for you a second time with her heads to catch as many men again

Conjugation edit

Further reading edit