LOGOI

The corpus record

μὴ οὐ

meou

fear, apprehension, perhaps

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

What it meant

μὴ οὐ · mē ou — LSJ

I fear, apprehension

with finite forms of the Verb, after Verbs expressing fear or apprehension (cf. μή B. 8):

a

mostly with subj., δείδω μὴ οὔ τίς τοι ὑπόσχηται τόδε ἔργον Il. 10.39, cf. Hdt. 6.9, Th. 3.53, 57, Pl. Men. 89d, etc.: after hist. tenses, with opt., ἠθύμησάν τινες ἐννοούμενοι μὴ οὐκ ἔχοιεν ὁπόθεν λαμβάνοιεν X. An. 3.5.3, etc.: with fut. opt. representing fut. ind. in orat. obliq., μὴ οὐκ ὀρθῶς αὐτὸ ποιήσοις Pl. Euthphr. 15d.

b

with ind., ὁρᾶτε μὴ οὐκ ἐμοὶ μάλιστα τῶν πολιτῶν προσήκει And. 1.103, cf. Pl. La. 196c, Alc. 2.139d.

2 perhaps

without introductory Verb, with subj., μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ Il. 1.28, cf. 566, E. Tr. 982; also to suggest hesitation, perhaps (cf. μή B. 9), μὴ οὐ τοῦτο ᾖ τὸ χρηστήριον Hdt. 5.79, cf. Pl. Phd. 67b, Smp. 194c, 214c, etc.: also with ind., μὴ τοῦτο οὐ καλῶς ὡμολογήσαμεν Id. Men. 89c.

3

μή is sts. doubled, irregularly, for μὴ οὐ, ἐθαύμαζε δʼ εἴ τις . . φοβοῖτο, μὴ ὁ γενόμενος καλὸς κἀγαθὸς . . μὴ τὴν μεγίστην χάριν ἔχοι X. Mem. 1.2.7, cf. Th. 2.13.

II

after a neg. expressed or implied:

1

c. inf.,

a hindering, denying, avoiding, needing, they no longer hesitated to try every expedient

after Verbs of hindering, denying, avoiding, needing, when these Verbs are themselves negatived or questioned, οὐκέτι ἀνεβάλλοντο μὴ οὐ τὸ πᾶν μηχανήσασθαι they no longer hesitated to try every expedient, Hdt. 6.88, cf. 8.100, 119; τί δῆτα μέλλεις μὴ οὐ γεγωνίσκειν; A. Pr. 627, cf. S. Aj. 540, Ar. Ach. 320, X. Cyr. 1.4.2, 4.3.8, Pl. Euthd. 304c, D. 24.24; οὐκ ἀνατίθεμαι μὴ οὐ καλῶς λέγεσθαι Pl. Men. 89d, cf. Phd. 87a; πολλοῦ δέω μὴ οὐ δύο γε φεύγειν Id. Euthd. 297b; τίνος ἐνδέομεν μὴ οὐ πανσυδίᾳ

b impossibility, impropriety, reluctance, nemo potest non

after Verbs and phrases signifying impossibility, impropriety, reluctance, when not negatived, ἄνδρα δʼ οὐκ ἔστι μὴ οὐ κακὸν ἔμμεναι Simon. 5.10; δεινὸν ἐδόκεε εἶναι μὴ οὐ λαβεῖν Hdt. 1.187; ἔστι οὐδεμία μηχανὴ μὴ οὐκ ἀπολωλέναι Id. 2.181, cf. 3.51, 7.5; οὐδεὶς ἂν τολμήσειεν μὴ οὐ χρῆσθαι τῷ νόμῳ Antipho 5.87, cf. Th. 8.60; αἰσχύνη ἦν μὴ οὐ συσπουδάζειν X. An. 2.3.11; αἰσχρόν ἐστι μὴ οὐκ ἄλλας πληγὰς ἐμβάλλειν τῷ υἱεῖ Id. Lac. 6.2; οὐδεὶς οἷός τʼ ἐστὶν ἄλλως λέγων μὴ οὐ (nemo potest non) καταγέλ

2

less freq. c. part. after a neg. expressed or implied, οὔκων δίκαιον [ἀνδριάντα] ἱστάναι . . μὴ οὐκ ὑπερβαλλόμενον τοῖσι ἔργοισι Hdt. 2.110, cf. 6.9, 106; δυσάλγητος γὰρ ἂν εἴην τοιάνδε μὴ οὐ κατοικτείρων ἕδραν S. OT 13, cf. 221, OC 360, Isoc. 10.47 (dub. l.), Pl. Ly. 212d, Philem. 213.5: hence

3 except

= εἰ μή, except, πόλεις . . χαλεπαὶ λαβεῖν, μὴ οὐ χρόνῳ καὶ πολιορκίᾳ D. 19.123.

III

in questions expecting an affirmative answer, LXX Jd. 14.3, 1 Ep.Cor. 9.4, Aesop. 404.

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.

Downloads

CC BY 4.0 with receipt attribution — every file carries its license line. What is exportable

Ask the librarian

Ask about μὴ οὐ →