ἐμπνέω (empneo)

Where it lives

Josue (cod. Vat.) 9 · 6.76/10k
Works and Days 1 · 1.73/10k
De Mundo 1 · 1.58/10k
Theogony 1 · 1.45/10k
Sapientia Salomonis 1 · 1.45/10k
Thesmophoriazusae 1 · 1.42/10k
Trachiniae 1 · 1.38/10k
Bacchae 1 · 1.33/10k
Agamemnon 1 · 1.23/10k
Symposium 2 · 1.15/10k
Apology 1 · 1.14/10k
Symposium 1 · 1.05/10k

Densest 12 of 20 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

ἐμπνέω · empneō — LSJ

blow, breathe upon, to breathe upon, breathe into, play

blow or breathe upon, c. dat., πόντῳ Hes. Op. 508; ἐμπνείοντε μεταφρένῳ, of horses so close behind as to breathe upon oneʼs back, Il. 17.502; of a lover, Hsch.; κατʼ οὖρον, ὥσπερ ἱστίοις, ἐμπνεύσομαι τῇδε E. l.c.; ἄνεμος ἐμπνεύσας δορί Id. Cyc. 19; [αὐλοῖς] ἐμπνεῖν breathe into, play the flute, AP 9.266 (Antip.): c. acc. cogn., χείλεσι μοῦσαν ἐ., of Pan, APl. 16.226 (Alc.):—Pass., ἐμπνεόμενα ὄργανα Poll. 4.67; πνεῦμα -πνεόμενον τῷ αὐλῷ S.E. P. 1.54.

2 breathe in, inhale

abs., breathe in, inhale, Hp. Flat. 4; but usu.,

b breathe, live, be alive

breathe, live, be alive, A. Ag. 671, Ar. Th. 926, Pl. Ap. 29d, etc.; τὰ ἐμπνέοντα, = ἔμψυχα, Call. Iamb. 1.127; ἐ. τᾷ τέχνᾳ AP 9.777 (Phil.); of one expiring, βλέποντα κἀμπνέοντʼ ἔτι S. Ph. 883; σμικρὸν ἐμπνέουσʼ ἔτι E. Alc. 205; βραχὺν δὴ βίοτον ἐμπνέων ἔτι Id. Hipp. 1246.

3 breathe of, be laden with

c. gen., breathe of, be laden with, Ἀραβίης ὀδμῆς Perict. ap. Stob. 4.28.19; ἐ. ἀπειλῆς καὶ φόνου Act.Ap. 9.1.

II blow into, swell

trans., blow into, ἄνεμος μέσον ἱστίον ἐ. swell the sail, h.Bacch. 33, cf. Pi. I. 2.40.

2 breathe into, infuse into, breathed into, inspired, with the thought, to be inspired

breathe into, infuse into, μένος, θάρσος. τινί, Il. 20.110, Od. 9.381, al.; [Μοῦσαι] ἐνέπνευσαν δέ μοι αὐδήν Hes. Th. 31; πατρὶ . . πατρὸς ἐνέπνευσεν μένος Pi. O. 8.70: also c. inf. pro acc., φᾶρος ἐνέπνευσε φρεσὶν ὑφαίνειν breathed into my mind (i.e. inspired me with the thought) to weave it, Od. 19.138 :— Pass., to be inspired, ὑπὸ θεοῦ Longin. 16.2; εἰς μαντικήν Plu. Def.orac. 2.421b.

In the wild

ἐμπνέων · empneōn Aeschylus, Agamemnon 671–672
ἐμπνέω · empneō Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae (DIORISIS sentence 736)
ἐμπνεῖ · empnei Aristotle, De Mundo (DIORISIS sentence 120)
ἐμπνέων · empneōn Euripides, Bacchae 1131–1132
ἐμπνέει · empneei Euripides, Orestes 1.155 (DIORISIS sentence 92)
ἐμπνέων · empneōn Euripides, Phoenissae *)/aggelos (DIORISIS sentence 829)

6 of 43 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

No etymology authority pointer is recorded for this lemma yet — an honest gap, not an omission. The etymological dictionaries (Beekes, Chantraine, Frisk) are matched incrementally.

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