ἄγαν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Per Beekes (Beekes 2010: 8) from the accusative singular *m̥ǵ-éh₂-m of Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“great”), whence μέγας (mégas).[1] For Beekes this form is important evidence for his hysterodynamic inflection type. The long ᾱ might be from another dialect.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /á.ɡaːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɡan/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ɣan/

Adverb

ᾰ̓́γᾱν • (ágān)

very much
too much, excessively
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.173.2:
  ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐκ ὀρθῶς, σεωυτοῦ προέστηκας, ἐς τὸ ἄγαν φαῦλον προάγων σεωυτόν.
  ô basileû, ouk orthôs, seōutoû proéstēkas, es tò ágan phaûlon proágōn seōutón.
  Oh king, you do not govern yourself rightly, by inducing yourself to too much baseness.

References

Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἄγᾱν”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 8

“ἄγαν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἄγαν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἄγαν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
ἄγαν in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
“ἄγαν”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011

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[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἄγᾱν”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 8