ὑπέρ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *hupér, from Proto-Indo-European *upér (over, above), from *upo (under, below) (whence English up). Cognates include Latin super and Proto-Germanic *uber (whence English over).

The genitive is from the PIE ablative of separation or cause. The accusative is from the pre-PIE directional.

Pronunciation

 

Preposition

ῠ̔πέρ • (hupér) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)

  1. [+genitive]
    1. over, above
    2. farther inland
    3. (nautical, of ships at sea) off of
    4. over, across
    5. beyond
    6. (figuratively)
      1. in defense of, on behalf of
      2. for the prosperity or safety of
      3. for, instead of, in the name of; by commission from
      4. as representative of, in the name of
      5. for, because of, by reason of, on account of
      6. for the purpose of preventing or avoiding, for the sake of
    7. concerning
  2. [+accusative]
    1. (of place) over, beyond
    2. (of measure) above, exceeding, beyond
      1. (after comparative) than
      2. in violation of
    3. (of number) above, upwards of
    4. (of time) before, earlier than
    5. on behalf of
  3. (+ dative, Aeolic) for

Usage notes

  • A primary preposition; “over”, that is, (with the genitive case) of place, above, beyond, across, or causal, for the sake of, instead, regarding; with the accusative case superior to, more than.
  • In compounds it retains many of the above applications.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: hyper-
  • French: hyper
  • Irish: hipir-
  • Russian: гипер- (giper-)

Adverb

ῠ̔πέρ • (hupér)

  1. overmuch, above measure

Further reading

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