The corpus record

σκῐᾱμᾰχ-έω

skiamacheo

fight against a shadow

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Apology 1 · 1.14/10k
Republic 1 · 0.11/10k
Laws 1 · 0.1/10k

What it meant

σκῐᾱμᾰχ-έω · skiamach-eō — LSJ

fight against a shadow, spar, sparring

fight against a shadow, i.e. an imaginary opponent, and so, spar, Posidon. 16 J., Plu. Sanit. 2.130e, Paus. 6.10.3: πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν σκιαμαχῶν sparring with the sky, ‘baying at the moon’, Cratin. 17 (lyr.).

II thrown out at random in disputations

metaph., Pl. Ap. 18d; πρὸς ἀλλήλους Id. R. 520c; πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτούς Id. Lg. 830c; πρὸς τὸν οὐκέτι ἐν ζῶσιν ὄντα Πλάτωνα ἐσκιαμάχει Numen. ap. Eus. PE 14.6:—Pass., ἔπη μάτην σκιαμαχούμενα thrown out at random in disputations, Luc. Pisc. 35.—σκιομαχέω is a later form in codd. of Ph. 1.356, Antyll. ap. Orib. 6.29.3.

In the wild

σκιαμαχεῖν · skiamachein Plato, Apology 18
σκιαμαχεῖν · skiamachein Plato, Laws 830
σκιαμαχούντων · skiamachountōn Plato, Republic 7.520 (DIORISIS sentence 4248)

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.

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