οἰωνός (oionos)

Where it lives

Apology 2 · 10/10k
Prometheus Bound 5 · 8.5/10k
Antigone 6 · 8.18/10k
Alcibiades 2 3 · 7.03/10k
Ion 5 · 5.47/10k
Seven Against Thebes 2 · 3.97/10k
Works and Days 2 · 3.47/10k
Oedipus Tyrannus 3 · 3.24/10k
Menexenus 1 · 2.08/10k
On the Cavalry Commander 1 · 1.74/10k
Iliad 18 · 1.61/10k
De Mundo 1 · 1.58/10k

Densest 12 of 41 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. οἰωνός · oiōnos — Beekes

οἰωνός [m.] ‘bird of prey, observed by the soothsayer’ (Il.), ‘prognosticating bird, omen’ (IL, also in prose). «1εὖ *h,eu-i- ‘bird’> *VAR ὀϊωνός (Trypho; also Alcm. 60 Β 6?). eCOMP As a first member in οἰωνο-πόλος [m.] ‘interpreter of birds’ (IL, Pi. A. [lyr.]); in D. H. = augur. *DER οἰωνίζομαι [v.] “to observe the prognosticating bird or the auspices, to deem an omen, tell fortunes’ (X, D., Hell.), rarely with … — [Beekes, s.v. οἰωνός, p. 1115]

2. οἰωνός · oiōnos — LSJ

a large bird, bird of prey

a large bird, bird of prey, οἰωνοί, φῆναι ἢ αἰγυπιοὶ γαμψώνυχες Od. 16.216 ; of the eagle, Κρονίωνι . . φίλτατος οἰωνῶν Il. 24.293 ; called οἰωνῶν βασιλεύς by A. Ag. 114 (lyr.), Pi. O. 13.21, cf. Ar. Av. 515 ; ἀρχὸς οἰ. Pi. P. 1.14 ; mentioned as devouring carcasses, Il. 1.5, 22.335, cf. S. Ant. 205, 698, Aj. 830 ; οἰωνοὶ ὠμησταί Il. 11.453 ; θῆρές τʼ οἰωνοί τε Emp. 21.11, 130.2 ; ὑπʼ οἰωνῶν ταφέντα, of corpses devoured by carrion birds, A. Th. 1025, cf. S. Ant. 29 ; as an image of swiftness, οἰ

2 birds

generally, birds, opp. beasts, S. Fr. 941.11 ; so in οἰωνοκτόνος.

II a bird of omen, augury, augurs

a bird of omen or augury, Il. 12.237, Od. 15.532, Hes. Op. 801 ; τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνούς S. El. 1059 (lyr.) ; οὔτʼ ἀπʼ οἰωνῶν . . , οὔτʼ ἐκ θεῶν του γνωτόν Id. OT 395, cf. 398 ; οἰ. αἴσιοι X. Cyr. 3.3.22, cf. Il. 12.237, Plu. Aet.Gr. 2.282d ; of augurs, καθέζεσθαι ἐπʼ οἰωνῶν, ἐπʼ οἰωνοῖς καθῆσθαι, Id. Rom. 22, Caes. 47 ; οἱ ἐπʼ οἰωνοῖς ἱερεῖς the augurs, Id. Ant. 5.

III omen, token, presage, omen, omens, omen, as an omen

omen, token, presage, drawn from these birds, Il. 2.859, al., cf. E. Hipp. 873 ; εἷς οἰ. ἄριστος ἀμύνεσθαι περὶ πάτρης the one best omen is to fight for fatherland, Il. 12.243 ; οἰ. ἀγαθοί good omens, Hes. Fr. 134.11 ; δέκομαι τὸν οἰ. I accept the omen, hail it as auspicious, Hdt. 9.91 ; οὗτος οἰ. μέγας E. Or. 788 ; δέδοικα . . τὸν οἰ. Ar. Eq. 28 ; τοῦ ἔκπλου οἰ. ἐδόκει εἶναι Th. 6.27 ; οἰωνὸν θέσθαι or τίθεσθαι take as an omen, E. Ph. 858, Pl. Alc. 2.151b ; εἰς οἰ. τίθεσθαι χρηστόν Plu. Luc. 36

IV bird

as Adj., or in apposition, οἰωνὸς θεά the bird goddess, Lyc. 721. [First syll. short in S. El. 1059 (lyr.).]

In the wild

οἰωνῶν · oiōnōn Aeschylus, Agamemnon 108–120
οἰωνῶν · oiōnōn Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 124
οἰωνῶν · oiōnōn Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 281–285
οἰωνὸν · oiōnon Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 286–289
οἰωνός · oiōnos Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 396
οἰωνῶν · oiōnōn Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 488–492

6 of 95 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. οἰωνός (scan p. 1115; entry #4484).

Ask the librarian

Ask about οἰωνός →