# πόθεν
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* κόθεν (kóthen) — Ionic

### Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“which”) +‎ -θεν (-then, ablative adverb suffix). Compare its indefinite form ποθέν (pothén).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pó.tʰen/ → /ˈpo.θen/ → /ˈpo.θen/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /pó.tʰen/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈpo.tʰen/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈpo.θen/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈpo.θen/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈpo.θen/

### Adverb

πόθεν • (póthen) (interrogative adverb)
* whence?, from where?
    ποῖ δὴ πορεύῃ καὶ πόθεν?poî dḕ poreúēi kaì póthen?Whither art thou going and whence?
* whence?, from what source?
* wherefore?, why?, how?, for what reason?, how come?

#### Usage notes

* This word can be used to introduce direct and indirect questions. ὁπόθεν (hopóthen) can only introduce indirect questions.
* Object generally takes the genitive case.

#### See also

| type | interrogative | indefinite | demonstrative | demonstrative | demonstrative | relative | indefinite relative | identity | other |
| type | interrogative | indefinite | (medial) | proximal | distal | relative | indefinite relative | identity | other |
| basic | τίς | τις, ἔνιοι | †ὁ, οὗτος | ὅδε | ἐκεῖνος | ὅς | ὅστις | ὁ αὐτός (αὑτός), ὁμός | ἕτερος, ἄλλος |
| dual | πότερος | πότερος, ποτερός | | | | ὁπότερος | ὁπότερος | | |
| quality | ποῖος | ποιός | †τοῖος, τοιοῦτος | τοιόσδε | | οἷος | ὁποῖος | ὅμοιος | ἑτεροῖος, ἀλλοῖος |
| quantity | πόσος | ποσός | †τόσος, τοσοῦτος | τοσόσδε | | ὅσος | ὁπόσος | | |
| manner | πῶς | πως | †τώς, †ὥς, οὕτως | ὧδε | | ὡς | ὅπως | ὁμῶς | ἑτέρως, ἄλλως |
| method, path, place | πῇ | πῃ | τῇ, ταύτῃ | τῇδε | ἐκείνῃ | ᾗ | ὅπῃ | | ἄλλῃ |
| place | ποῦ, †πόθι | που, †ποθι | ἐνταῦθα | ἐνθάδε | ἐκεῖ, ἔνθα, †ἐκεῖθι | οὗ, ἔνθα, †ὅθι | ὅπου, †ὁπόθι | αὐτόθι, ὁμοῦ | ἄλλοθι |
| source | πόθεν | ποθεν, ἁμόθεν | †τόθεν, ἔνθεν, ἐντεῦθεν | ἐνθένδε | ἐκεῖθεν | ὅθεν | ὁπόθεν | †ὁμόθεν | ἄλλοθεν |
| destination | ποῖ, †πόσε | ποι | ἔνθα, ἐνταῦθα | ἐνθάδε, δεῦρο | ἐκεῖσε | οἷ | ὅποι, †ὁπόσε | αὐτόσε, ὁμόσε | ἄλλοσε |
| time | πότε, πῆμος | ποτέ, ποτε, τοτέ, ἐνίοτε | τότε, τῆμος | τημόσδε | | ὅτε, ἦμος | ὁπότε, †ὁππῆμος | ἅμα | ἄλλοτε |
| exact time | πηνίκα | | †τηνίκα, τηνικαῦτα | τηνικάδε | | ἡνίκα | ὁπηνίκα | αὐτίκα | |
| duration of time | | | τέως | | | ἕως | | | |
| size, age | πηλίκος | πηλίκος | †τηλίκος, τηλικοῦτος | τηλικόσδε | | ἡλίκος | ὁπηλίκος | ὁμῆλιξ | |
| repetition | ποσάκις, ποσίνδα | ποσάκις | τουτάκις, τοσάκις | | | †ὁσάκις ὁποσάκις | ὁποσάκις | | |
| multiplication | ποσαπλάσιος | | | | | ὁσαπλάσιος, ὁσαπλασίων | | | |
| order | πόστος | ποστός | | | | | ὁπόστος | | |
| † Forms rarely or never used in Classical Attic prose Relative also used in exclamations; either relative or indefinite relative used in indirect questions. ||||||||||

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πόθεν”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1215

### Further reading

* “πόθεν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “πόθεν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “πόθεν”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* πόθεν 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
* πόθεν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* “πόθεν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G4159 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. festival idem, page 316.quarter idem, page 663.source idem, page 797.whence idem, page 975.