LOGOI

The corpus record

μάτην

maten

in vain, fruitless, to no good end

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

Where it lives

  • Prometheus Bound 9 · 15.31/10k
  • Ichneutae 2 · 11.63/10k
  • Libation Bearers 5 · 9.3/10k
  • Heracles 6 · 7.67/10k
  • Electra 6 · 6.91/10k
  • Oedipus at Colonus 6 · 5.79/10k
  • Iphigenia in Aulis 5 · 5.6/10k
  • Oedipus Tyrannus 5 · 5.4/10k
  • Apology 1 · 5/10k
  • Alcibiades 2 2 · 4.69/10k
  • Oeconomica II 2 · 4.25/10k
  • Trojan Women 3 · 4.24/10k

Densest 12 of 64 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

μάτην · matēn — LSJ

in vain, fruitless, to no good end

in vain, h.Cer. 308, Pi. O. 1.83, etc.; μὴ πόνει μ. A. Pr. 44; βλέποντες ἔβλεπον μ. ib. 447; μ. ἐρεῖν ib. 1007; with a Noun, τὸ μ. ἄχθος the fruitless burden, Id. Ag. 165 (lyr.); Διὸς μ. ἄκοιτις his bedfellow to no good end, S. Tr. 1149: as predicate, μ. ὁ μόχθος A. Ch. 521.

2 at random, without reason

at random, without reason, οὔ σε μ. τιμῶσι Thgn. 523; ὅρα μὴ μ. κόμπος ὁ λόγος ᾖ Hdt. 7.103, cf. E. Supp. 127; οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον . . τοὺς κακοὺς μ. χρηστοὺς νομίζειν S. OT 609; ἵνα μὴ μ. θαρρήσῃς Pl. Tht. 189d; ὁ νοσῶν μ., i.e. he that is mad, S. Aj. 635 (lyr.), cf. Ar. Pax 95 (anap.).

3 idly, falsely

idly, falsely, λέγοντες εἴτʼ ἀληθές, εἴτʼ ἄρʼ οὖν μ. S. Ph. 345; λόγῳ μάτην θνῄσκοντες Id. El. 63, cf. 1298; μ. βέβακεν, of a dream, A. Ag. 423 (lyr.).—Originally acc. of μάτη, and we find εἰς μάτην in Luc. Trag. 28,241, Aristid. Or. 33(51).3; ἐπὶ μ. POxy. 530.8 (ii A.D.).

In the wild

6 of 181 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. μάτη (scan p. 689; entry #5110).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. μάτη (scan p. 1157; entry #3761).

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