Ancient Greek

Verb

γρᾰ́φω • ‎(gráphō)

1. (Epic) to scratch, cut into
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.599

     γράψεν δέ οἱ ὀστέον ἄχρις / αἰχμὴ Πουλυδάμαντος ...

     and the spearpoint of Polydamas scratched him close to the bone ...

2. to draw, sketch, paint
3. to write
4. to write down, propose a law
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 1.7.34

     ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν Εὐρυπτόλεμος ἔγραψε γνώμην κατὰ τὸ Καννωνοῦ ψήφισμα κρίνεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας δίχα ἕκαστον.

     After saying this, Euryptolemus proposed a resolution that the men be tried under the decree of Cannonus, each one separately.

5. (middle voice)
   1. (indirect reflexive) write down for oneself, note down
      • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 143.a

        Τερψίων   ἀτὰρ τίνες ἦσαν οἱ λόγοι; ἔχοις ἂν διηγήσασθαι;
        Εὐκλείδης   οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία, ... ἀλλ᾽ ἐγραψάμην μὲν τότ᾽ εὐθὺς οἴκαδ᾽ ἐλθὼν ὑπομνήματα ... .

        Terpsion: But what was the talk? Can you repeat it?
        Eucleides: No, by Zeus, but I wrote myself notes as soon as I came home.

   2. to indict, prosecute
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 13

        δεῖ ... ταῖς ἐκ τῶν νόμων τιμωρίαις παρ᾽ αὐτὰ τἀδικήματα χρῆσθαι, ... εἰ δὲ γράφοντα παράνομα, παρανόμων γραφόμενον

        he must make use of the legal punishments for these crimes: ... if [I] proposed illegal measures, to indict [me] for breaking the law

      • οἱ γραψάμενοι‎

        hoi grapsámenoi

        the prosecutors

6. (perfect passive) be written down, be in written form
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 143.a

     Εὐκλείδης   ... ὥστε μοι σχεδόν τι πᾶς ὁ λόγος γέγραπται.

     Eucleides:   ... So I have pretty much the whole conversation written down.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• γραφή ‎(graphḗ, “writing”)
• γραφεύς ‎(grapheús, “painter, writer”)
• γρᾰμμή ‎(grammḗ, “line”)
• γράμμα ‎(grámma, “letter”)
• γραμματεῖον ‎(grammateîon, “tablet”)
• γραμματικός ‎(grammatikós, “scholarly”)
• ῠ̔πογρᾰ́φω ‎(hupográphō)

Descendants

• Greek: γράφω ‎(gráfo)

References

• γράφω in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• γράφω in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• γράφω in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• «γράφω» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• γράφω in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• “G1125”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• «γράφω» 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
• BDAG

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γράφω ‎(gráphō).

Verb

γράφω • ‎(gráfo) ‎(simple past έγραψα, passive form γράφομαι)

1. write, pen
2. record

Conjugation

Related terms

• αντιγράφω ‎(antigráfo, “to copy, to cheat”)
• συγγράφω ‎(syngráfo, “to write (a book, etc), to author”)
• καταγραφικό ‎(katagrafikó, “chart recorder, datalogger”)