# ἐπιλαμβάνω
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* ἐπῐλάζῠμαι (epĭlázŭmai)

### Etymology

From ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “upon”) +‎ λᾰμβᾰ́νω (lămbắnō, “to take, receive”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /e.pi.lam.bá.nɔː/ → /e.pi.lamˈba.no/ → /e.pi.lamˈba.no/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /e.pi.lam.bá.nɔː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /e.pi.lamˈba.no/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /e.pi.lamˈba.no/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /e.pi.lamˈba.no/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /e.pi.lamˈba.no/

### Verb

ἐπῐλᾰμβᾰ́νω • (epĭlămbắnō)
* to take or get besides
** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1259a.28:ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἐπὶ τοῖς πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις ἐπέλαβεν ἑκατόνall’ hómōs epì toîs pentḗkonta talántois epélaben hekatónbut all the same he took a hundred talents besides his capital of fifty
** to take, receive
* to lay hold of, seize, attack
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.115.3:ἐπιλαβὼν δὲ λοιμός τε τὸν στρατὸν καὶ δυσεντερίη κατ’ ὁδὸν ἔφθειρε.epilabṑn dè loimós te tòn stratòn kaì dusenteríē kat’ hodòn éphtheire.Moreover, pestilence and dysentery laid hold of them among their way, from which they died.
** (of events) to overtake, surprise; to befall
*** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.27.1:καὶ ἐδεδοίκεσαν μὴ σφῶν χειμὼν τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπιλάβοιkaì ededoíkesan mḕ sphôn kheimṑn tḕn phulakḕn epiláboiand feared lest winter should overtake them in their siege
** to reach
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 6.5.6:ἔθαπτον τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὁπόσους ἐπελάμβανεν ἡ στρατιάéthapton tòn autòn trópon hopósous epelámbanen hē stratiáand then in the same way they buried all that the army reached
** to seize, stop
*** 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 703:τὴν ῥῖν’ ἐπιλαβοῦσ’tḕn rhîn’ epilaboûs’stopping her nose
** to occupy
*** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 779c:καὶ ὅπως ἰδιώτης μηδεὶς μηδὲν τῶν τῆς πόλεως […] ἐπιλήψεταιkaì hópōs idiṓtēs mēdeìs mēdèn tôn tês póleōs […] epilḗpsetaiand prevent any private person from encroaching on State property […]
** (with genitive) to undertake
*** 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 5.18
*** 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 13.19
** (intransitive) to succeed, follow
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Problems 860a.7
* (middle voice, with genitive) to hold on by, lay hold of, catch at
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.113.2:καὶ ἐπελαμβάνοντο τῶν νεῶνkaì epelambánonto tôn neônand [they] laid hold of the [Persian] ships
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.114:ἐπιλαμβανόμενος τῶν ἀφλάστων νεός, τὴν χεῖρα ἀποκοπεὶς πελέκεϊ πίπτειepilambanómenos tôn aphlástōn neós, tḕn kheîra apokopeìs pelékeï pípteihis hand cut off with an ax as he held on by the ship's figurehead
** 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.91.2:ἐπιλαμβανόμενος δὲ τῶν ἐπισπαστήρων εἴχετοepilambanómenos dè tôn epispastḗrōn eíkhetohe laid hold of the door handles and clung to them
** to attack
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 4.2.22:ἐπελάβοντο δὲ καὶ Κορινθίων ἀναχωρούντων.epelábonto dè kaì Korinthíōn anakhōroúntōn.The Lacedaemonians also attacked the Corinthians as they were returning.
** to arrest, seize
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Apatourius 9:ὁ Παρμένων ἐξαγομένων τῶν παίδων ἐπιλαμβάνεταιho Parménōn exagoménōn tôn paídōn epilambánetaiParmeno […] seized the slaves as they were being taken away
*** New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 17:19:ἐπιλαβόμενοί τε αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον ἤγαγον...epilabómenoí te autoû epì tòn Áreion págon ḗgagon..."So they took him [Paul] and brought him to the Areopagus..." (NRSV)
** to get hold of, obtain
*** 484 BCE – 425 BCE, Herodotus, 1 127.1:μέν νυν προστάτεω ἐπιλαβόμενοι ἄσμενοὶ ἐλευθεροῦντοmén nun prostáteō epilabómenoi ásmenoì eleutheroûntoand now having got a champion they were glad to win their freedom
** to reach (a place)
*** 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Mark Antony 41:ἐκέλευε φεύγειν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐπιλαβόμενονekéleue pheúgein en dexiâi tôn orôn epilabómenonand urged him in his flight to keep close to the hills upon his right
** to touch on
*** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 449d:ἐπειδὴ ἄλλης ἐπιλαμβάνῃ πολιτείαςepeidḕ állēs epilambánēi politeíassince you are beginning on another constitution
** to interrupt
*** 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 214e.μεταξὺ ἐπιλαβοῦ, ἂν βούλῃ:have the goodness to interrupt me
*** to object to
**** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 2.1.32:ὅτι μόνος ἐπελάβετο ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ […] ψηφίσματοςhóti mónos epelábeto en têi ekklēsíāi […] psēphísmatosbecause he was the one man who in the Athenian assembly had opposed the decree […]

#### Derived terms

* ἀντεπῐλαμβᾰ́νομαι (antepĭlambắnomai)
* προσεπῐλαμβᾰ́νω (prosepĭlambắnō)
* σῠνεπῐλαμβᾰ́νω (sŭnepĭlambắnō)

#### Related terms

* ἐπῐλᾰβή (epĭlăbḗ)
* ἐπῐληπτέον (epĭlēptéon)
* ἐπῐληπτεύομαι (epĭlēpteúomai)
* ἐπῐληπτίζω (epĭlēptízō)
* ἐπῐληπτῐκός (epĭlēptĭkós)
* ἐπῐ́ληπτος (epĭ́lēptos)
* ἐπῐλήπτωρ (epĭlḗptōr)
* ἐπῐληψῐ́ᾱ (epĭlēpsĭ́ā)
* ἐπῐλήψῐμος (epĭlḗpsĭmos)
* ἐπῐ́ληψῐς (epĭ́lēpsĭs)

#### References

* “ἐπιλαμβάνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “ἐπιλαμβάνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* ἐπιλαμβάνω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* G1949 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible