ἀεί

See also: αεί, αει-, and αεί-

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• αἰεί (aieí) — Epic, Ionic, poetic
• αἰέν (aién) — Homeric
• ἀέ (aé), ἀές (aés), αἰές (aiés), αἰή (aiḗ) — Doric
• αἰέ (aié) — unknown
• αἶι (aîi) — Aeolic
• ἠι (ēi) — Boeotian
• αἰϝεί (aiweí) — Delphic

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *aiweí, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“lifetime, long time”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- (“vital energy, life”). Equivalent to locative case of αἰών (aiṓn), with or without the -ν.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.ěː/ → /aˈi/ → /aˈi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.ěː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈi/

 

• IPA^(key): /aː.ěː/ → /aˈi/ → /aˈi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /aː.ěː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈi/

Adverb

ᾱ̓εί or ᾰ̓εί • (āeí or aeí) (Attic)

1. (at all times): always, ever

   Synonym: πάντοτε (pántote)

   Νῦν καὶ ἀεί.

   Nûn kaì aeí.

   Now and always.

   • ca. 411 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.58:

     τὸ μὲν οὖν μέγιστον μαρτύριον αὐτὸς εἶπεν, ὅτι οἱ Ἴωνες αἰεί ποτε πολέμιοι τοῖς Δωριεῦσιν εἰσίν. ἔχει δὲ καὶ οὕτως: ἡμεῖς γὰρ Ἴωνες ὄντες Πελοποννησίοις Δωριεῦσι καὶ πλέοσιν οὖσι καὶ παροικοῦσιν ἐσκεψάμεθα ὅτῳ τρόπῳ ἥκιστα αὐτῶν ὑπακουσόμεθα,

     tò mèn oûn mégiston martúrion autòs eîpen, hóti hoi Íōnes aieí pote polémioi toîs Dōrieûsin eisín. ékhei dè kaì hoútōs: hēmeîs gàr Íōnes óntes Peloponnēsíois Dōrieûsi kaì pléosin oûsi kaì paroikoûsin eskepsámetha hótōi trópōi hḗkista autôn hupakousómetha,

     And the greatest testimony of this right he hath himself given, in that he said the Ionians were ever enemies to the Dorians. And it is true. For being Ionians, we have ever endeavoured to find out some means or other how best to free ourselves from subjection to the Peloponnesians, that are Dorians, more in number than we and dwelling near us. (Translation of Thomas Hobbes)

2. (for all time): forever, everlastingly, infinitely

   Synonyms: διὰ παντός (dià pantós), διὰπαντός (diàpantós)

   • 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.105:

     τοῖσι δὲ τῶν Σκυθέων συλήσασι τὸ ἱρὸν τὸ ἐν Ἀσκάλωνι καὶ τοῖσι τούτων αἰεὶ ἐκγόνοισι ἐνέσκηψε ὁ θεὸς θήλεαν νοῦσον: ὥστε ἅμα λέγουσί τε οἱ Σκύθαι διὰ τοῦτο σφέας νοσέειν, καὶ ὁρᾶν παρ᾽ ἑωυτοῖσι τοὺς ἀπικνεομένους ἐς τὴν Σκυθικὴν χώρην ὡς διακέαται τοὺς καλέουσι Ἐνάρεας οἱ Σκύθαι.

     But the Scythians who pillaged the temple, and their descendants after them , were forever afflicted by the goddess with the “female” sickness: and so the Scythians say that they are afflicted as a consequence of this and also that those who visit Scythian territory see among them the condition of those whom the Scythians call “Hermaphrodites”.

   • Sophocles, Oedipus the King , line 275:

     Εὖ ξυνεῖεν εἰσαεὶ θεοί.

     Eû xuneîen eisaeì theoí.

     May the gods always and forever graciously abide with you!

3. (for (an) eternity): eternally
4. (for an indefinitely long period of time, without specification regarding past present or future): abidingly, at length, indefinitely, in perpetuity, lengthily, perpetually
5. (for an indefinitely long period of time including the present time): for the time being
6. (for an indefinitely long period of time including a specific point in time (generally in the past) which is not the present time): at that time, at the time; back then
   • 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.98:

     τουτέων δὲ ἡ μὲν Ἄνθυλλα ἐοῦσα λογίμη πόλις ἐς ὑποδήματα ἐξαίρετος δίδοται τοῦ αἰεὶ βασιλεύοντος Αἰγύπτου τῇ γυναικί

     toutéōn dè hē mèn Ánthulla eoûsa logímē pólis es hupodḗmata exaíretos dídotai toû aieì basileúontos Aigúptou têi gunaikí

     Anthylla is a town of some reputation, and is especially assigned to the consort of the reigning king of Egypt at the time, to provide her shoes.

7. (at all times from a distant past through the present or some other time): from the get-go, from the start, heretofore, since the beginning, to date, up to now, until this day, "jusqu'aujourd'hui"; theretofore
   • 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.58:

     τὸ δὲ Ἑλληνικὸν γλώσσῃ μὲν ἐπείτε ἐγένετο αἰεί κοτε τῇ αὐτῇ διαχρᾶται, ὡς ἐμοὶ καταφαίνεται εἶναι: ἀποσχισθὲν μέντοι ἀπὸ τοῦ Πελασγικοῦ ἐόν ἀσθενές, ἀπό σμικροῦ τεο τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁρμώμενον αὔξηται ἐς πλῆθος τῶν ἐθνέων, Πελασγῶν μάλιστα προσκεχωρηκότων αὐτῷ καὶ ἄλλων ἐθνέων βαρβάρων συχνῶν.

     tò dè Hellēnikòn glṓssēi mèn epeíte egéneto aieí kote têi autêi diakhrâtai, hōs emoì kataphaínetai eînai: aposkhisthèn méntoi apò toû Pelasgikoû eón asthenés, apó smikroû teo tḕn arkhḕn hormṓmenon aúxētai es plêthos tôn ethnéōn, Pelasgôn málista proskekhōrēkótōn autôi kaì állōn ethnéōn barbárōn sukhnôn.

     But the Hellenic stock, it seems clear to me, has always had the same language since its beginning; yet being, when separated from the Pelasgians, few in number, they have grown from a small beginning to comprise a multitude of nations, chiefly because the Pelasgians and many other foreign peoples united themselves with them.

   • Euripides, Orestes Line 1662:

     Ἄργους δ᾽ Ὀρέστην, Μενέλεως, ἔα κρατεῖν, ἐλθὼν δ᾽ ἄνασσε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός, φερνὰς ἔχων δάμαρτος, ἥ σε μυρίοις πόνοις διδοῦσα δεῦρ᾽ ἀεὶ διήνυσεν.

     "Menelaus, leave Orestes to rule Argos; go and reign over the Spartan land, keeping it as the dowry of a wife who till this day never ceased causing you innumerable troubles."

8. (at all times from the present or some other time through a distant future): endlessly, evermore, forevermore

Usage notes

Remaining true to its Indo-European root, the adverb ᾱ̓εί imparts the sense that a verbal action occurs continuously for "a long time" in a variety of specifications, or indeed for all time. When specifying a temporally bounded period of time, ᾱ̓εί may refer to an action occurring: either from the far past through the present, from the present until a distant future, for a relatively long time in either the past or in the future, or from the far past through a distant future. Contrast πώποτε (pṓpote), which (where not negated) indicates that a verbal action might occur at any time over a long period of time, but not necessarily continuously.

Descendants

• Greek: αεί (aeí)

See also

• ἐνίοτε (eníote, “sometimes”)
• οὔποτε (oúpote, “never”)
• πολλάκις (pollákis, “often”)
• σπανίως (spaníōs, “seldom”)

Further reading

• “ἀεί”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀεί”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀεί”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀεί in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ἀεί in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀεί in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἀεί”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G104 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • always idem, page 26.
  • continually idem, page 168.
  • eternally idem, page 284.
  • ever idem, page 285.
  • momentarily idem, page 538.
  • persistently idem, page 608.
  • regularly idem, page 687.
  • time idem, page 875.
  • unvaryingly idem, page 936.
  • unwaveringly idem, page 936.