# ἐκ
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* ἐξ (ex) — before a vowel, both in compounds and as a separate word

### Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *eks, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out of”).
Cognates include Latin ex, ē, Old Irish ess-, a, ass (Irish as), Lithuanian ìš, Old Church Slavonic из (iz), Northern Kurdish ji, Albanian ith.
The genitive is from the PIE ablative of separation.

### Pronunciation

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

### Preposition

ἐκ • (ek) (governs the genitive)
* (of place)
** (of motion) Out of, from
** from, with the source of
    ἐξ Ἰταλίαςex Italíasfrom Italy
** to denote change from one place or condition to another
    ἐκ τῆς οἰκίᾱς αὐτῶν, κεἰς τὴν μου ek tês oikíās autôn, keis tḕn mou from their house, and into mine
** to express separation of distinction from a number
** (of position) outside, beyond
* (of time)
** from, since
** (of particular points of time) just, after
    ἐκ τούτουek toútouafter this
** during, in
* (of origin)
** (of materials) made out of something
** (of descent, parentage) descended from
    ἐκ πατρὸς εὐγενοῦςek patròs eugenoûs(born) of a noble father
    ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίωνek tôn homoíōnof an equal
** (of causation) done by someone, something
** of the cause, instrument, or means by which a thing is done
** from, according to
    ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρονek toû karpoû tò déndronfrom the fruit the tree (is judged)
** turns a following noun into a periphrastic adverb
** (with numerals) in such an order

#### Usage notes

* In Attic inscriptions (not in literary writing), ἐξ (ex) is found before words beginning with σ, ξ, ζ, ρ, and sometimes λ.
* In inscriptions, the compound may appear as ἐγ- before β, δ, λ, μ, and ν, but this does not happen in literary writing (e.g. ἐκλελέχθαι (eklelékhthai)).

#### Derived terms

* δῐέκ (dĭék, preposition)
* ἐκτός (ektós, adverb, preposition)
* ἔσχᾰτος (éskhătos, adjective)
* ἐχθός (ekhthós, adverb)
* κᾱ̓κ (kāk, preposition)
* οὑκ (houk)
* ῠ̔πέκ (hŭpék, preposition)

#### Descendants

* Greek: εκ (ek), ξε- (xe-)
* Esperanto: ek-
* Ido: ek

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐκ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 395
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐξ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 433

### Further reading

* “ἐκ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “ἐκ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “ἐκ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* ἐκ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* ἐκ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* ἐκ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “ἐκ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G1537 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* ἐκ in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. accordance idem, page 7.after idem, page 17.commence idem, page 147.compact idem, page 149.depend idem, page 211.evacuate idem, page 284.fall idem, page 303.forth idem, page 339.from idem, page 346.hand idem, page 382.hang idem, page 383.inspire idem, page 446.instead of idem, page 446.issue idem, page 461.jump idem, page 466.leap idem, page 482.light idem, page 490.loin idem, page 497.lose idem, page 500.off idem, page 569.out of idem, page 581.since idem, page 777.spring idem, page 805.step idem, page 815.