# ἐπαινέω
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* ἐπαίνημῐ (epaínēmĭ) — Aeolic
* ἐπαινίω (epainíō) — Laconian

### Etymology

From ἐπῐ́ (epĭ́) +‎ αἰνέω (ainéō, “to approve”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /e.pai̯.né.ɔː/ → /e.pɛˈne.o/ → /e.peˈne.o/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /e.pai̯.né.ɔː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /e.pɛˈne.o/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /e.pɛˈne.o/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /e.peˈne.o/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /e.peˈne.o/

### Verb

ἐπαινέω • (epainéō)
* to approve, applaud, agree, countenance
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.461:ὣς ἔφατ’ Ἀτρεΐδης, ἐπὶ δ’ ᾔνεον ἄλλοι Ἀχαιοί.hṑs éphat’ Atreḯdēs, epì d’ ḗineon álloi Akhaioí.So spake the son of Atreus, and all the Achaeans shouted assent.
** 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 4.168:σύνθεσιν ταύταν ἐπαινήσαντες οἱ μὲν κρίθενsúnthesin taútan epainḗsantes hoi mèn kríthenApproving this arrangement, they parted company.
** 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 1616:ὁρᾷς; ἐπαινεῖ χοὖτος.horâis? epaineî khoûtos.Do you see? He also agrees.
** to praise, commend
*** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.34.5:ἥσθη τε ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καμβύσης καὶ ἐπαίνεε τὴν Κροίσου κρίσιν.hḗsthē te taûta akoúsas ho Kambúsēs kaì epaínee tḕn Kroísou krísin.Cambyses was glad to have heard this, and he praised Croesus' judgement.
*** 620 BCE – 500 BCE, Alcaeus of Mytilene, Collected Works 37A:μέγ’ ἐπαίνεντες ἀόλλεεςmég’ epaínentes aólleesshouting his praise by their thousands
*** 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 342:τὰ μὲν σ’ ἐπαινῶ κοὐδαμῇ λήξω ποτέ:tà mèn s’ epainô koudamêi lḗxō poté:I thank you for all this and shall never cease to thank you.
*** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.25.2.[Brasidias] was the first that was praised at Sparta in this war:πρῶτος τῶν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπῃνέθη ἐν Σπάρτῃ.prôtos tôn katà tòn pólemon epēinéthē en Spártēi.
*** 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 118:ἀντὶ τῆς ὑπὸ πάντων ἐπαινουμένηςantì tês hupò pántōn epainouménēsin place of the [polity] commended by all
** to agree or undertake to do
* to recommend, advise
** 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 1360:τοιούσδ’ ἐπαινεῖς δῆτα σὺ κτᾶσθαι φίλους;toioúsd’ epaineîs dêta sù ktâsthai phílous?So then, are these the type of friends that you recommend we make?
* Used to decline an offer or invitation.
** 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 508:κάλλιστ’, ἐπαινῶkállist’, epainô
* (Rhapsody) to recite

#### Usage notes

The aorist ἐπῄνεσα (epḗinesa) is sometimes used in Attic in a present sense.

#### Synonyms

* ἐπαινετέω (epainetéō)
* (recommend): παραινέω (parainéō)

#### Derived terms

* ἀντεπαινέω (antepainéō)
* ἀξῐέπαινος (axĭépainos)
* αὐτέπαινος (autépainos)
* παρέπαινος (parépainos)
* πολῠεπαίνετος (polŭepaínetos)
* προεπαινέω (proepainéō)
* προσεπαινέω (prosepainéō)
* σῠνεπαινέω (sŭnepainéō)
* σῠνέπαινος (sŭnépainos)
* ῠ̔περεπαινέω (hŭperepainéō)

#### Related terms

* ἐπαίνεσῐς (epaínesĭs)
* ἐπαινετέον (epainetéon)
* ἐπαινετέω (epainetéō)
* ἐπαινέτης (epainétēs)
* ἐπαινετῐκός (epainetĭkós)
* ἐπαινετός (epainetós)
* ἐπαινός (epainós)
* ἔπαινος (épainos)
* ἐπαινουμένως (epainouménōs)

### Further reading

* “ἐπαινέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “ἐπαινέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “ἐπαινέω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* ἐπαινέω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* ἐπαινέω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* “ἐπαινέω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G1867 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible