ἄν

Ancient Greek

particle
Definitions
  • Expresses potential mood
  • (with past indicative) Expresses irrealis mood
  • (with past indicative) Expresses iterative aspect: had done, had been doing; would have done, would have been doing; used to do
  • (with subjunctive in subordinate clauses) Expresses generality, and often translatable with present or future tense in English
  • When combined with infinitive or participle in indirect speech, represents a finite verb with ἄν in direct speech

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu (youthful vigor, vital force, long time, lifetime).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*h₂óyu

Gloss

youthful vigor, vital force, long time, lifetime

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms