μάτην

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μᾰ́τᾱν (mátān) — Doric

Etymology

From μάτη (mátē, “folly, fault”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /má.tɛːn/ → /ˈma.tin/ → /ˈma.tin/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.tɛːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.te̝n/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.tin/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.tin/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.tin/

Adverb

μᾰ́την • (mátēn)

1. in vain, fruitlessly
2. at random, without reason
3. idly, falsely

Further reading

• “μάτην”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μάτην”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μάτην in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette