LOGOI

The corpus record

πρόσωπον

prosopon

face, countenance, mask, role, person

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

What it meant

1. πρόσωπον · prosōpon — Beekes

πρόσωπον [n.] ‘face, countenance, mask, role, person’ (11.), IE *profti ‘against’ + *h,ek”- ‘see’> *VAR Epic pl. also -nata, dat. -ασι, which can easily be explained as an enlargement favoured by the metre (Schwyzer: 515°). «COMP Rarely as a first member, e.g. προσωπο-λήπτης [m.] ‘who respects persons, who is partial’ with -ληπτέω, -ληψία (NT). Very often as a second member, mostly late., e.g. μικρο-πρόσωπος … — [Beekes, s.v. πρόσωπον, p. 1291]

2. πρόσωπον · prosōpon — Chantraine

πρόσωπον : n. (πρόσωπος PL. Com. 250); pl πρόσὠπα, etc., mais chez Hom. προσώπατα (Od. 18,192), datif προσώπασι (Il. 7,212) formes métriquement commodes favorisés par l’analogie de οὔατα, οὔασι ; chez Hom. le plur. est plus fréquent que le sing. (11 18,24) : « visage, devant, façade», d'autre part «expression du visage, contenance » (Æsch., S., etc.), « masque » (D., com., etc.), « personnage d'une pièce de théâtre, … — [Chantraine, s.v. πρόσωπον, p. 959]

3. πρόσωπον · prosōpon — Frisk

πρόσωπον, ep. pl. auch -zara (vgl. unten) n. ‘Gesicht, Antlitz, Maske, Rolle, Person’ (seit Il.). Vereinzelt als Vorderglied, z.B. προσωπο-λήπτης m. “der auf die Person Rücksicht Nehmende, Parteiische’ mit -ληπτέω, -ληψία (NT). Sehr oft als Hinterglied, meist sp., z.B. uıxoo-neöowros "mit kleinem Gesicht’ (Arist.). — Davon das Demin. προσωπ-οίδιον (Ar. u.a.), -εἴον (-ı0v) τι. "Maske’ (Thphr., LXX u.a.), die … — [Frisk, s.v. πρόσωπον, p. 1574]

4. πρόσωπον · prosōpon — Frisk

πρόσωπον. Zutoch. A pratsak, B pratsäko noch Van Windekens Orbis 19 (1970) 104. (< idg. *proti-ög*-s). — [Frisk, s.v. πρόσωπον, p. 2299]

5. πρόσωπον · prosōpon — LSJ

face, countenance, in front, facing, facing, fronting, in person, front, countenance, face

face, countenance (cf. μέτωπον), Hom., always in pl., even of a single person, Il. 7.212, 18.414, Od. 19.361, al. (exc. Il. 18.24), and so in Hes. Op. 594 (v.l. -πον), S. Fr. 871.6 (v. infr.), El. 1277 (lyr.), OC 314, X. An. 2.6.11 (dub.), AP 9.322 (Leon.): sg. in h.Hom. 10.2, 31.12, and usu. in later writers; π. κλιθὲν προσώπῳ Simon. 37.12; εἰς π. βλέπειν E. Hipp. 280; ἐς π. τινὸς ἀφικέσθαι come before him, ib. 720; π. πρός τινα στρέφειν Id. Ph. 457; οὐκ ὄψεσθε τὸ π. μου LXX Ge. 43.3, cf. UPZ 7

2 front, façade

front, façade, Id. P. 6.14, cf. E. Ion 189 (lyr., pl.); κατὰ π. τοῦ ἱεροῦ, τῆς νεώς, PPetr. 3p.2 (iii B.C.), Ach.Tat. 3.1, 2; τιθέναι τὰς φιάλας ἐπὶ πρόσωπον Asclep.Myrl. ap. Ath. 11.501d.

II oneʼs look, countenance

oneʼs look, countenance, A. Ag. 639, 794 (anap., pl.), Eu. 990 (anap., pl.), etc.; οὐ τὸ σὸν δείσας π. S. OT 448: metaph., φαίνοισα π. Ἀλάθεια Pi. N. 5.17.

2 domain

Astrol., decan considered as the domain of a planet, ἐν ἰδίοις π. Vett.Val. 62.21, Paul.Al. C. 2.

III mask, imagines, bust, portrait

= προσωπεῖον, mask, D. 19.287 (-εῖον is v.l.), Arist. Po. 1449a36, b4, Pr. 958a17, Dsc. 3.144 (v.l.), Poll. 2.47; π. ὑπάργυρον κατάχρυσον IG 1(2).276.6, cf. 4(2)(1).102.58, 68 (Epid., iv B.C.), Clara Rhodos 6/7.428; ὀθόνινον π. prob. in Pl.Com. 142; π. περίθετον Aristomen. 5; of the Roman imagines, Plb. 6.53.5; bust or portrait, Sammelb. 5221, OGI 432.1 (Naksh-i-Rustam, iii A.D.).

2 dramatic part, character, character

dramatic part, character, Phld. Rh. 1.199S., Arr. Epict. 1.29.45 and 57; κωφὸν π. Cic. Att. 13.19.3; character in a book, τὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ὄνομα καὶ π. Plb. 8.11.5; τὸ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως π. Id. 12.27.10, cf. Phld. Po. 5.32; also ἀστοχεῖν τοῦ π., of an author, Callisth. 44J.; ἐπὶ προσχήματι καὶ π. δικαστῶν Ael. Fr. 168.

IV person, in person, in bodily presence, person, person

person, Phld. Rh. 1.52S. (pl.); ἀδίκως μὴ κρῖνε πρόσωπον Ps.-Phoc. 10; προσώπῳ, οὐ καρδίᾳ in person, in bodily presence, 1 Ep.Thess. 2.17, cf. 2 Ep.Cor. 5.12; ποιεῖν or πληροῦν τὸ π. τινός to represent a person, PRein. 56.30 (iv A.D.), Sammelb. 6000ii 12 (vi A.D.); λαμβάνειν π. τινός admit a person to oneʼs presence, εἰ προσδέξεταί σε, εἰ λήψεται πρόσωπόν σου LXX Ma. 1.8; hence, = προσωποληπτεῖν, Ev.Luc. 20.21, Ep.Gal. 2.6; μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ π. μου, i.e. do not reject my prayer, LXX 3 Ki. 2.20; θ

2 legal personality

legal personality, Bion Borysth. ap. D.L. 4.46.

3 person

Gramm., person, D.T. 638.4, A.D. Pron. 3.12, etc.; γυναικεῖα π. Alex.Trall. 2.

4 feature

π. πόλεως a feature of the city, of a person, Cic. Fam. 15.17.2.

5

f.l. in Zeno Stoic. 1.23 (cf. Nicol. Prog. p.4 F.).

In the wild

6 of 1,501 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. πρόσωπον (scan p. 1291; entry #5177).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. πρόσωπον (scan p. 959; entry #6774). Root candidates: *mport-.
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. πρόσωπον (scan pp. 1574-1575; entry #4832).

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