LOGOI

The corpus record

νεύω

neuo

to incline, nod, beckon, grant

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 19 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. νεύω · neuō — Beekes

νεύω [v.] ‘to incline, nod, beckon, grant’ (Il.). <1£ *neu(H)- ‘nod, incline’> “VAR Aor. νεῦσαι, fut. νεύσω, -νεύσομαι (IL), perf. νένευκα (E.) -νένευμαι (Ph.). *COMP Often with prefix, e.g. dva-, émt-, κατα-. *DER νεῦσις [f] ‘nodding, inclination’, also with ἔκ-, ἀνά-, etc. (Pl, LXX), νεῦμα [n.] ‘beck, nod’ (A., Th., X.), also with ἐπι-, év-, ovv-; thence νευμάτιον (Arr.); νευστικός ‘inclining’ (Ph.). Enlargement … — [Beekes, s.v. νεύω, p. 1062]

2. νεύω · neuō — Chantraine

νεύω : 1, etc., aor. Éveuox (IL, ele.), fut. νεύσω, -ομαι (IL, etc.), parf. νένευκα (E.) et νένευμαι (rare). Sens : «se pencher en avant, s’incliner, faire un signe de Lête », etc. (Iom., ion.-att.). Les préverbes précisent le sens : &va- « relever la tête en arrière », souvent en signe de refus, opposé à κατα- {Hom., etc.), ἀπο-, ëx-, èv- (Ar.), ἐπι-, κατα-, «faire signe que oui, approuver », opposé à ἀνα- (Hom., … — [Chantraine, s.v. νεύω, p. 764]

3. νεύω · neuō — Chantraine

νεύω — 748 --- signe » (Hom., alex.), « dodeliner de la tête » (Od. 18,240) ; cf. βαστάζω, ἑλκυστάζω, ῥυστάζω et voir Chantraine, Gr. Hom. 1,338, Schwyzer, Gr. Gr. 1,706 : aucune de ces formes n'est tirée d’un adjectif en -τός attesté ; aussi avec le préverbe ἐπι-. — [Chantraine, s.v. νεύω, p. 765]

4. νεύω · neuō — Frisk

νεύω, Aor. νεῦσαι, Fut. vevow, -νεύσομαι (seit Il.), Perf. νένευκα (E. u.a.), -νένευμαι (Ph. u.a.), oft mit Präfix, z.B. ἄνα-, ἐπι-, κατα-, nicken, sich neigen, winken’. — Davon (2%x-, ἀνά- usw.)- νεῦσις f. "Nicken, Neigung’ (Pl., LXX usw.), νεῦμα n., auch mit ἐπι-, Ev-, ovv-, “Wink’ (A. in Iyr., Th., X. usw.) mit νευμάτιον (Arr.) ; νευστικός “sich neigend’ (Ph. u.a.). Expressive Erweiterung vevordöw, vereinzelt m. … — [Frisk, s.v. νεύω, p. 1281]

5. νεύω · neuō — LSJ

incline in any direction

incline in any direction:

1 nod, beckon, beckon, beckon

nod, beckon, as a sign, νεύσω μέν τοι ἐγὼ κεφαλῇ Od. 16.283; νεῦσʼ Αἴας Φοίνικι Il. 9.223, cf. Od. 17.330; νεῦσαν ἐς ἀλλήλους h.Hom. 7.9; ὅρκος βέβαιός ἐστιν ἂν νεύσω μόνον Alex. 91, cf. 178.3; beckon with the hand, δεξιᾷ δέ μοι ἔνευσε Ezek. Exag. 73: c. inf., beckon to one to do a thing, in token of command, νεανίαις ἔνευσε παρθένον λαβεῖν E. Hec. 545.

2 nod, bow in token of assent, grant, assure, promise that, grant, promise

nod or bow in token of assent, ἐπὶ γλεφάροις ν. Pi. I. 8(7).50; νεῦσον, Κρονίων Id. P. 1.71; νεῦσον, τέκνον, πείσθητι S. Ph. 484, cf. Ar. Pax 883: c. acc. et inf., grant, assure, promise that . . , νεῦσε δέ οἱ λαὸν σόον ἔμμεναι Il. 8.246: c. inf. fut., Pi. O. 7.67: c. inf. aor., AP 6.244 (Crin.): c. acc. rei, grant, promise, νεῦσε δέ οἱ κούρην h.Cer. 445, cf. 463; νεύσατε τὰν ἀδόκητον χάριν S. OC 248 (lyr.), cf. E. Alc. 978 (lyr.).

3 nod, bend forward, stoop

generally, nod, bend forward, of warriors, Il. 13.133; νεῦον τὸ αἰδοῖον Hdt. 2.48; λόφος καθύπερθεν ἔνευεν Il. 3.337, cf. Alc. 15.3, etc.; στάχυες νεύοιεν ἔραζε Hes. Op. 473, etc.; ν. κάτω stoop, E. El. 839; ν. ἐς τὴν γῆν Ar. V. 1110, cf. Theoc. 22.90: c. acc., οὕτω νῦν μνηστῆρες . . νεύοιεν κεφαλὰς δεδμημένοι Od. 18.237; ἐς πέδον κάρα νεῦσαι φόβῳ S. Ant. 270, cf. 441.

4 incline, slope, incline, tend, slope, look, face, to be in equilibrium, verge, tend, to be inclined

incline, slope, ν. ἀπό τινος εἴς τι incline towards, Th. 4.100; εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ν. tend to the same point, Pl. Lg. 945d; πρὸς τὸ λυπῆσαν, πρὸς τοῖς ῥήμασιν, Alex.Aphr. Pr. 1.48, 78; of countries, etc., slope, ν. εἰς δύσεις, πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος, Plb. 1.42.6, 1.73.5, etc.; of buildings, etc., look, face, εἰς νότον, etc., PLond. 3.978 (iv A.D.), etc.; μηδαμοῦ ν. to be in equilibrium, Plb. 6.10.7; ταῖς πρῴραις ἔξω νεύοντα τὰ σκάφη Id. 1.26.12: Geom., of straight lines, verge, tend to a point (i. e. to pass

II decline, fall away, decline, sink

metaph., decline, fall away, ἐκ . . τῶν ποτε λαμπρῶν νεύει βίοτος, νεύει δὲ τύχα E. Fr. 153: in Neo-Platonic philosophy, decline, sink in the scale of Being, Plot. 2.9.4, etc.

III

νεύει· ἐπανέρχεται ἢ μᾶλλον φεύγει, Hsch.

IV inclined

Pass., only pf. part. νενευμένος inclined, Teucer in Cat.Cod.Astr. 7.202. (Cf. Skt. návate ‘turn round’, Lat. nuo.)

In the wild

6 of 39 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. νεύω (scan pp. 1062-1063; entry #4314). Root candidates: *neu-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. νεύω (scan p. 764; entry #5609).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. νεύω (scan p. 1281; entry #4077).

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