The corpus record

ματάω

matao

to be idle, dally

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

Where it lives

Seven Against Thebes 1 · 1.99/10k
Eumenides 1 · 1.91/10k
Prometheus Bound 1 · 1.7/10k
Oedipus Tyrannus 1 · 1.08/10k
Psalmi 1 · 0.29/10k
Iliad 3 · 0.27/10k

What it meant

μᾰτάω · mataō — LSJ

to be idle, dally, lags, to loiter, is in vain, is fruitless, fail of

poet. Verb, to be idle, dally, ἀπέκοψε παρήορον οὐδὲ μάτησε Il. 16.474, cf. 23.510; μὴ τὼ μὲν (sc. ἵππω) δείσαντε ματήσετον 5.233; οὐ ματᾷ τοὔργον the work lags not, goes on apace, A. Pr. 57; ματᾶν ὁδῷ to loiter by the way, Id. Th. 37; ἰδώμεθʼ, εἴ τι τοῦδε φροιμίου ματᾷ is in vain, is fruitless, Id. Eu. 142; of persons, fail of a thing, τινος Opp. H. 3.102.

In the wild

ματᾷ · matai Aeschylus, Eumenides 141–142
ματᾷ · matai Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 57
ματᾶν · matan Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 36–37
ἐμάτησε · ematēse Iliad 16.474
μάτησεν · matēsen Iliad 23.510
ματήσετον · matēseton Iliad 5.233

6 of 8 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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