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The corpus record

σεμνός

semnos

venerable, honored, holy, noble

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

What it meant

1. σεμνός · semnos — Beekes

σεμνός [adj.] ‘venerable, honored, holy, noble’, also ‘haughty, proud’ (h. Cer.). 41Ὲ *tieg”-no-> *COMP Many compounds, e.g. σεμνό-μαντις [m.] ‘venerable seer’ (S.), ἄ-σεμνος ‘unworthy, ignoble’ (Arist., etc.). *DER σεμν-ότης [f.] ‘dignity, nobility, pride’ (Att.), -eiov [n.] “holy building’ (Ph.), after ἀρχεῖον etc; -ύνομαι, -bvw [v.] ‘to exalt oneself, be proud; to make venerable, exalt, praise’ (Hdt, Att), also … — [Beekes, s.v. σεμνός, p. 1371]

2. σεμνός · semnos — Frisk

σεμνός “ehrwürdig, verehrt, heilig, vornehm’, auch ‘hochmütig, stolz’ (seit A.Cer.). Viele Kompp., z.B. σεμνό-μαντις m. “ehrwürdiger Seher’ (S.; Risch IF 59, 273), ἄ-σεμνος “unwürdig, unedel’ (Arist. usw.; Frisk Adj. priv. 15). Davon 1. σέρις - σέσηρα 693 — [Frisk, s.v. σεμνός, p. 1664]

3. σεμνός · semnos — LSJ

revered, august, holy

revered, august, holy:

I

prop. of gods, e.g. Demeter, h.Cer. 1, 486; Hecate, Pi. P. 3.79; Thetis, Id. N. 5.25; Apollo, A. Th. 800; Poseidon, S. OC 55; Pallas Athena, ib. 1090 (lyr.); at Athens the Erinyes were specially the σεμναὶ θεαί, Id. Aj. 837, OC 90, 458, Ar. Eq. 1312, Th. 224, Th. 1.126, Autocl. ap. Arist. Rh. 1398b26; or simply Σεμναί, A. Eu. 383 (lyr.), 1041 (lyr.), E. Or. 410; τὸ σ. ὄνομα their name, S. OC 41; σ. βάθρον the threshold of their temple, ib. 100; σ. τέλη their rites, ib. 1050 (lyr.).

2 devoted to the gods, holiness

of things divine, ὄργια σ. h.Cer. 478, S. Tr. 765; θέμεθλα δίκης Sol. 4.14; ὑγίεια Simon. 70; θυσία Pi. O. 7.42; σ. ἄντρον the cave of Cheiron, Id. P. 9.30, cf. O. 5.18; σ. δόμος the temple of Apollo, Id. N. 1.72; παιάν A. Pers. 393; σέλμα σ. ἡμένων, of the Olympian gods, Id. Ag. 183 (lyr.); σ. ἔργα, of the gods, Id. Supp. 1037 (lyr.); μυστήρια S. Fr. 804, E. Hipp. 25; τέρμων οὐρανοῦ ib. 746; σ. βίος devoted to the gods, Id. Ion 56; σεμνὰ φθέγγεσθαι, = εὔφημα, A. Ch. 109 (v.l.), cf. Ar. Nu. 315,

II reverend, august, the great ladies, revered by, worthy of respect, honourable

of human or half-human beings, reverend, august, ἐν θρόνῳ σεμνῷ σεμνὸν θωκέοντα Hdt. 2.173, cf. A. Ch. 975, E. Supp. 384, al.; σ. θάλος Ἀλκαϊδᾶν Pi. O. 6.68; τὸ σχῆμα σεμνὸς κοὐ ταπεινός E. Fr. 688; αἱ φαυλότεραι . . παρὰ τὰς σεμνὰς καθεδοῦνται beside the great ladies, Ar. Ec. 617, cf. Isoc. 3.42; οἱ σεμνότατοι ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν Pl. Phdr. 257d; ἄνθρωπος οὐ σ., i.e. a nobody, Ar. Fr. 52D.; opp. χαῦνος, Pl. Sph. 227b (Comp.); opp. κομψός, X. Oec. 8.19; σεμνὸς οὐ προσώπου συναγωγαῖς ἀλλὰ βίου κατασκε

2 august, stately, majestic, noble qualities, very wonderful, worthy of respect, noble, fine

of human things, august, stately, majestic, θᾶκοι A. Ag. 519; ἱμάτια Ar. Pl. 940, cf. Ra. 1061 (Comp.); ταφή X. HG 3.3.1; πράγματα, ἔργα, Ar. V. 1472, Isoc. 12.213; σεμνοτέραν τὴν πόλιν ποιῆσαι Is. 5.45; οἰκία τοῦ γείτονος οὐδὲν σεμνοτέρα D. 3.26, cf. 29; ψεύδεσι [τοῦ Ὁμήρου] σ. ἔπεστί τι Pi. N. 7.22; λεγόντων . . περὶ αὐτοῦ σ. λόγους Hdt. 7.6; of Tragedy, Pl. Grg. 502b; of style, Arist. Po. 1458a21, cf. Rh. 1404b8 (Comp.); of certain metres, ib. 1408b32; ἐπὶ τὸ σ. μιμεῖσθαι to imitate it in its

3 noble

metaph., σ. βρῶμα a noble dish, Aristopho 7, cf. Archestr. Fr. 20; σ. ὀσμή Mnesim. 4.60, etc.

III proud, haughty, haughty reserve

in bad sense, proud, haughty, τὰ σέμνʼ ἔπη S. Aj. 1107; σεμνότερος καὶ φοβερώτερος And. 4.18; τὸ σ. haughty reserve, E. Hipp. 93, cf. Med. 216.

2 solemn, pompous, grave and solemn, grand

in contempt or irony, solemn, pompous, σ. καὶ ἅγιον Pl. Sph. 249a; τί σεμνὸν καὶ πεφροντικὸς βλέπεις; look grave and solemn, E. Alc. 773; τὸ σ. ἄγαν καὶ τραγικόν Arist. Rh. 1406b7: very freq. in Com., ἀνελκτοῖς ὀφρύσι σεμνός Cratin. 355; ὡς σ. οὑπίτριπτος how grand the rascal is! Ar. Pl. 275; ὡς σ. ὁ κατάρατος Id. Ra. 178; λόγοι σ. Id. V. 1175; σεμνὸς σεμνῶς χλανίδʼ ἕλκων Ephipp. 19.

IV

Adv. -νῶς A. Supp. 193, E. Ion 1133, Ar. V. 585, etc.; ὥσπερ κοχλίας σεμνῶς ἐπηρκὼς τὰς ὀφρῦς, of Plato, Amphis 13; σεμνῶς κεκοσμημένος X. Cyr. 6.1.6, etc.; περὶ εὐτελῶν σ. λέγειν Arist. Rh. 1408a13: Comp. -ότερον X. Mem. 3.5.20: Sup. -ότατα Plb. 15.31.7.

In the wild

6 of 302 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. σεμνός (scan pp. 1371-1372; entry #5469).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. σεμνός (scan p. 1016; entry #7170).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. σεμνός (scan pp. 1664-1665; entry #5106).

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