ψοφ-έω (psopheo)

Where it lives

Ichneutae 1 · 5.82/10k
On the Art of Horsemanship 1 · 1.44/10k
Bacchae 1 · 1.33/10k
Heracles 1 · 1.28/10k
Cratylus 1 · 0.56/10k
Discourses 3 · 0.4/10k
Ezechiel 1 · 0.35/10k
Analytica priora et posteriora 1 · 0.18/10k
Nicomachean Ethics 1 · 0.18/10k
Anabasis 1 · 0.18/10k
Republic 1 · 0.11/10k
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 1 · 0.09/10k

What it meant

ψοφ-έω · psoph-eō — LSJ

sound, make a noise

sound, make a noise (opp. φωνέω, Arist. de An. 420b30, HA 535b3), E. Or. 137; ψοφεῖ ἀρβύλη Id. Ba. 638 (troch.); πύλαι ψοφοῦσι Id. HF 78 (v. infr. II); ψοφεῖ λάλον τι, like a cracked pot, Ar. Ach. 933 (lyr.); ἐψόφησεν ἄμπελος Id. Pax 612 (troch.); ἐψόφει . . οὐκ οἶδʼ ἅττα ib. 1152 (troch.); ὥσπερ κύμβαλον ψοφεῖ πρὸς τῷ δαπέδῳ ἡ κοίλη ὁπλή X. Eq. 1.3; ποταμοὶ ψοφοῦντες Pl. R. 396b; of a bell, Str. 14.2.21: c. acc. cogn., [ἡ χαλκὶς] ψοφεῖ οἷον συριγμόν Arist. HA 535b19; ψ. ψόφον ib. b13.

2 an empty noise

esp. of an empty noise, πάντα γάρ τοι τῷ φοβουμένῳ ψοφεῖ S. Fr. 61; κόμποι ψοφοῦσιν Alex. 25.9; μέγα ψοφέουσαν ἀοιδήν Call. Aet. Oxy. 2079.19 [Fr. 1.19 Pf.] (cf. Fr. 165).

II knock at, knock at the outside, were heard to open

c. acc., ψοφεῖν τὰς θύρας knock at the door inside to show that one is coming out (opp. κόπτειν or κρούειν knock at the outside), τὴν θύραν ψοφεῖ τις ἐξιών Men. Pk. 126, cf. Epit. 454; ἐψόφηκε προϊὼν τὴν θύραν Id. Sam. 324, cf. Luc. Sol. 9; but the two words are sts. used indiscriminately, cf. Plu. Publ. 20; also of the door (intr.), τί αἱ θύραι νύκτωρ ψοφοῖεν why they were heard to open, Lys. 1.14, cf. 17, Men. Sam. 222; ἐψόφηκεν ἡ θ. Com.Adesp. 21.1 D.; ἐψόφηκε ῥόπαλον CIG 5149b (Cyrene).

2 rattle

rattle a chain, Herod. 7.11.

III you will perish, come to a bad end

intr., κλαίοντες αὐτῇ δειλίᾳ ψοφήσετε perh. = you will perish, come to a bad end, S. Ichn. 162: cf. διαφωνέω 3b.

IV

= μαστιγόω, ἐξουσίαν ἐχέτω . . ἐπιτειμέων τρόπ [ῳ ᾧ κα θέλῃ καὶ ψο]φέων καὶ διδέ[ων] καὶ πωλέων Supp.Epigr. 2.307 (Delph.); ἐπιτιμέουσα καὶ ψοφευσασα (sic lapis; leg. ψοφεῦσα) καὶ διδέουσα κτλ. Delph. 3(2).131 (i B. C.); cf. μαστιγοῦσαι replacing ψοφέουσαι in the same formula, GDI 2324 (Delph.).

In the wild

ψοφεῖν · psophein Aristotle, Analytica priora et posteriora AHys.Β (DIORISIS sentence 2265)
ψοφήσῃ · psophēsēi Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1149a (DIORISIS sentence 2363)
ψοφοῦντος · psophountos Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 10.1 (DIORISIS sentence 8905)
ψοφήσαντος · psophēsantos Epictetus, Discourses 1.20 (DIORISIS sentence 1087)
ψοφήσῃ · psophēsēi Epictetus, Discourses 2.19 (DIORISIS sentence 3098)
ψοφήσῃ · psophēsēi Epictetus, Discourses 3.2 (DIORISIS sentence 3886)

6 of 14 attestations shown. Ask for more.

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.

Ask the librarian

Ask about ψοφ-έω →