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The corpus record

καταλαμβάνω

katalambano

seize, lay hold of

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 125 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

καταλαμβάνω · katalambanō — LSJ

seize, lay hold of, arrive at, seize for oneself, had, preoccupied, possessed

seize, lay hold of, c. acc., τοῦ κατὰ νῶτα λαβών Od. 9.433, cf. Ar. Lys. 624, etc.; κατέλαβε τὴν ἀκρόπολιν Th. 1.126, cf. Hdt. 5.71, Ar. Lys. 263 (lyr., tm.), Isoc. 4.153, etc. (metaph., τὴν τοῦ νέου τῆς ψυχῆς ἀκρόπολιν κ. Pl. R. 560b); πάντα φυλακαῖς κ. Plu. Per. 33; κ. ἕδρας Ar. Ec. 21, 86; φάσκων Ποσειδῶ πρότερον Ἀθηνᾶς καταλαβεῖν αὐτήν (sc. τὴν πόλιν) Isoc. 12.193; later, simply, arrive at a place, POxy. 1829 (vi A. D.), etc.:—Med., seize for oneself, τὰ πρήγματα Hdt. 6.39; τὰ ἄλλοι οὐ κατελ

2 befall, overtake, to befall

of death, fatigue, disaster, etc., τὸν δὲ κατʼ ὄσσε ἔλλαβε . . θάνατος Il. 5.82; Ἄργον . . κατὰ μοῖρʼ ἔλαβεν . . θανάτοιο Od. 17.326: c. dupl. acc., εὖτʼ ἄν μιν κάματος κατὰ γυῖα λάβῃσιν 1.192; Δίκη καταλήψεται ψευδῶν τέκτονας Heraclit. 28; befall, overtake, συμφορὰ κ. πόλεις E. Hipp. 1161: freq. in Hdt., θεῖα πρήγματα καταλαμβάνει τοὺς αἰελούρους 2.66; πένθεα μεγάλα τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους κ. ibid., cf. 3.42; ὅσα φεύγοντας ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος κακὰ ἐπίδοξα καταλαμβάνειν may be expected to befall them, 4.11;

3 seize with the mind, comprehend, overcome

seize with the mind, comprehend, Pl. Ax. 370a, Chrysipp.Stoic. 2.39, Plb. 8.2.6, Ev.Jo. 1.5 (perh. overcome); κάλλος διὰ τῆς [ὄψεως] Pl. Phdr. 250d; ἐκ τοῦ φάσματος ὅτι . . D.H. 5.46, cf. Arr. Epict. 1.5.6:—so in Med., D.H. 2.66, S.E. M. 7.288; ὅτι . . Act.Ap. 4.13; τί τὸ πλάτος Ep.Eph. 3.18:— Pass., Phld. Sign. 22, Mus. p.62K., Numen. ap. Eus. PE 14.8.

4 accept

accept, παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως . . δωροδοκήματα dub. l. in Pl.Com. 119.1 (κᾆτʼ ἔλαβον Mein.).

II catch, overtake, come up with

catch, overtake, come up with, τοὺς φεύγοντας Hdt. 1.63, cf. 2.30, etc.:—Pass., Id. 7.211, Plb. 1.47.8.

2 find on arrival, detect, to be taken by surprise

find on arrival, c. part., τινὰ ζῶντα Hdt. 3.10; τὰ πλεῖστα . . προειργασμένα Th. 8.65; πάντα ἔξω Id. 2.18; ἀνεῳγμένην τὴν θύραν Pl. Smp. 174d; τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐξιόντας D. 21.85; τινὰ ἔνδον Pl. Prt. 311a; τῶν φορτίων πολλὴν ἀπρασίαν D. 34.8; τι ὑπάρχον Arist. Top. 131a29; detect, ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ ἐμαυτόν Pl. Ap. 22b:—Pass., κατελήφθη σοῦ λάθρᾳ πωλῶν τὰ σά E. Cyc. 260, cf. Ev.Jo. 8.3, etc.; κατείληπτο σοφιζόμενος D. 21.164; to be taken by surprise, Plu. Publ. 20.

III it happens to, it is, fortune

impers., καταλαμβάνει τινά c. inf., it happens to one, it is oneʼs fortune to . . , καταλαμβάνει μιν φεύγειν Hdt. 2.152, cf. 3.118; καταλελάβηκέ με . . τοῦτο . . ἐκφῆναι Id. 3.65, cf. 4.105, 6.38.

IV that had befallen, what had happened, the circumstances, was coming on

abs., πρὸς τὴν καταλαβοῦσαν συμφορήν that had befallen, Id. 4.161; τὰ καταλαβόντα, = τὰ συμβάντα, what had happened, the circumstances, Id. 9.49; ἢν πόλεμος καταλάβῃ Th. 2.54, cf. 18; εἰ -λαμβάνοι ἀναχώρησις Id. 4.31; τῆς νυκτὸς -λαμβανούσης as night was coming on, D.S. 20.86; χειμῶνος ἤδη -λαμβάνοντος Hdn. 7.2.9.

V hold down, cover, fasten down, to, be compressed

hold down, cover, τῇ χειρὶ τὸν ὀφθαλμόν Pl. Tht. 165b; τὰς χεῖρας Plu. Sert. 26; fasten down, κ. πῶμα γόμφοις Id. Isid. 2.356c, cf. Gal. 13.358 (so in Med., D.S. 3.37):—Pass., to be compressed, opp. διαλύεσθαι, Arist. Pr. 870b11; τὰς φλέβας -λαμβανόμενοι Id. Somn.Vig. 455b7.

2 keep under, repress, check, get, under, put an end to, stop, inquiries about, being checked

keep under, repress, check, κ. τινῶν αὐξανομένην τὴν δύναμιν Hdt. 1.46; κ. τὸ πῦρ get it under, ib. 87; ἴσχε καὶ κ. σεωυτόν Id. 3.36; κ. τὰς διαφοράς put an end to them, Id. 7.9.β; κ. ἐρίζοντας stop their quarrelling, Id. 3.128: folld. by inf., κ. τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ταῦτα μὴ ποιέειν Id. 2.162; ὁ τῶν Περσέων θάνατος καταλαμφθεὶς ἐσιγήθη inquiries about their death being checked . . , Id. 5.21.

b hold

κ. τὸ πνεῦμα hold the breath, Gal. 6.176, al.

3 bind, enforced, concluded

bind, κ. πίστι καὶ ὁρκίοισι Hdt. 9.106; ὅρκοις Th. 4.86, etc.:—Pass., εἴ τινι -λέλαμμαι ὅρκῳ SIG 360.41 (Chersonesus); νόμοις, ἔθεσι κατειλημμένα enforced, Arist. Pol. 1324b22; ζημίαις Pl. Lg. 823a; [τὰς σπονδὰς] ηὗρε κατειλημμένας he found the treaty concluded, Th. 5.21 codd.

4 compel, constrain, to do, forces, being constrained

compel, constrain one to do, c. inf., ἀναγκαίη μιν κ. φαίνειν forces him to bring out the truth, Hdt. 3.75:—Pass., ἀναγκαίῃ καταλαμβανόμενος being constrained, Id. 2.65, cf. Th. 7.57.

5 convict, condemn, secure a conviction

convict, condemn, Antipho 2.4.11; opp. ἀπολύειν, Id. 4.4.9; ἐὰν καταληφθεὶς ἀποθάνω Id. 2.2.9, cf. IG 12(2).526A20 (Eresus, iv B. C.); of the prosecutor, secure a conviction, Rev.Phil. 1928.192 (Erythrae, v B. C.); ὁ -λαβών SIG 578.58 (Teos, ii B. C.), etc.

In the wild

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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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