# εἰμί
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* ἔμμῐ (émmĭ) — Aeolic
* ἠμῐ́ (ēmĭ́) — Cretan
* εἶμαι (eîmai) — Byzantine
* εἴμ’ (eím’), εἰμ’ (eim’) — apocopic
* εἰμι (eimi) — unstressed

### Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *ehmi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“I am, I exist”).
Cognate with Old English eom (whence English am), Latin sum, Sanskrit अस्मि (ásmi), Old Armenian եմ (em), and so on. More at *h₁es- (“to be, exist”). Not to be confused with εἶμι (eîmi) (to go).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /eː.mí/ → /iˈmi/ → /iˈmi/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /eː.mí/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /iˈmi/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /iˈmi/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /iˈmi/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /iˈmi/

### Verb

εἰμῐ́ • (eimĭ́)
* to be, exist; (of persons) live
** (of events) to happen
** to be the case
*** a. 1452/1454, Plethon, “λϛʹ. Προσρήσεών τε καὶ ὕμνων χρήσεως διάταξις. [CHAPTER 36. Instruction for the use of addresses and hymns]”, in Νομων Συγγραφη. [Book of Laws]‎, translation of original by John Opsopaus, PhD:...ἐάν δ’ ἱερέων μηδεὶς παρῇ, τὸν τῆς προσκυνήσεως κατάρξαντα ἰδιώτην, καὶ ταύτην ἐπιλέγειν τὴν εὐχήν, οὐκέτι μέντοι ἐπαίροντα τὼ χεῖρε· πρὸς δέ, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ὑμῖν, ἡμῖν λέγοντα· καὶ τοὺς λοιπούς· ‘εἶεν· εἶεν· εἶεν’, ὑποκριναμένους, οὕτω ἀπολύεσθαι·...eán d’ hieréōn mēdeìs parêi, tòn tês proskunḗseōs katárxanta idiṓtēn, kaì taútēn epilégein tḕn eukhḗn, oukéti méntoi epaíronta tṑ kheîre; pròs dé, kaì antì toû humîn, hēmîn légonta; kaì toùs loipoús; ‘eîen; eîen; eîen’, hupokrinaménous, hoútō apolúesthai;...But if no priest is present, the individual who began the adoration also adds the prayer, but without raising [his] hands, in addition saying “us” instead of “you”; and the rest, answering “Be it so! Be it so! Be it so!”, are thus released.
* (copulative) to be [with nominative ‘something, someone’]
* (third person, impersonal) it is possible [with infinitive ‘that ...’]

#### Usage notes

* Used as Aorist: ἐγενόμην (egenómēn) and as Present Perfect: γέγονα (gégona) from verb γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “come into being”)
* Postclassical/Hellenistic Koine present imperative 2nd person singular: ἔσο (éso), and 3rd: ἤτω (ḗtō), Imperfect 1st person singular: ἤμην (ḗmēn)
* Verbal adjective: συνεστέον (sunestéon)
* All forms of the present active indicative except 2nd person singular (εἶ) are enclitic.

#### Synonyms

* (it is possible): ἔξεστι (éxesti)

#### Derived terms

* ἄπειμι (ápeimi)
* ἀπουσία (apousía)
* αὐτοουσία (autoousía)
* ἔνειμι (éneimi)
* ἔξειμι (éxeimi)
* ἔξεστι (éxesti)
* ἐξουσία (exousía)
* ἔπειμι (épeimi)
* ἐπιούσιος (epioúsios)
* ἐπιπρόσειμι (epipróseimi)
* ἐπισυμπάρειμι (episumpáreimi)
* ἐπισύνειμι (episúneimi)
* καταπερίειμι (kataperíeimi)
* μέτειμι (méteimi)
* μετουσία (metousía)
* οὐρανουσία (ouranousía)
* οὐσία (ousía)
* πάρειμι (páreimi)
* παρουσία (parousía)
* περίειμι (períeimi)
* περιουσία (periousía)
* πρόειμι (próeimi)
* προένειμι (proéneimi)
* προέξειμι (proéxeimi)
* πρόσειμι (próseimi)
* προσπάρειμι (prospáreimi)
* συμπάρειμι (sumpáreimi)
* συμπρόσειμι (sumpróseimi)
* σύνειμι (súneimi)
* συνένειμι (sunéneimi)
* συνουσία (sunousía)
* συνύπειμι (sunúpeimi)
* ὕπειμι (húpeimi)
* ὑπένειμι (hupéneimi)
* ὑπέρειμι (hupéreimi)
* ὤν (ṓn)

#### Descendants

* Byzantine Greek: εἶμαι (eîmai)
** Modern Greek: είμαι (eímai)
* Mariupol Greek: и́ми (ími)

### Further reading

* “εἰμί”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “εἰμί”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “εἰμί”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* εἰμί 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
* εἰμί in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* εἰμί in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “εἰμί”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G1510 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920) “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 768, 768 D
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. be idem, page 66.beck idem, page 68.belong to idem, page 72.constitute idem, page 164.exist idem, page 292.extant idem, page 296.form idem, page 338.live idem, page 495.make idem, page 508.pertain to idem, page 608.right idem, page 714.through idem, page 871.
* “εἰμί”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011