Ancient Greek

Particle

μῶν • ‎(môn)

1. (like μή, in a question expecting a negative answer) but surely not? is it really so?
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 145.d–145e

     Σωκράτης   σοφίᾳ δέ γ᾽ οἶμαι σοφοὶ οἱ σοφοί.
     Θεαίτητος   ναί.
     Σωκράτης   τοῦτο δὲ μῶν διαφέρει τι ἐπιστήμης;

     Socrates: And I suppose the wise are wise by wisdom.
     Theaetetus: Yes.
     Socrates: But is this [i.e., wisdom] really any different from knowledge?

2. (followed by οὐ, in a question expecting a positive answer)

References

• μῶν in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μῶν in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• «μῶν» in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • surely idem, page 842.