γράφω

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *grəpʰō, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ-. Cognates include Old English ċeorfan (English carve), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбъ (žrěbŭ).

Pronunciation

Verb

γρᾰ́φω • (gráphō)

1. (Epic) to scratch, cut into
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.599

     γράψεν δέ οἱ ὀστέον ἄχρις / αἰχμὴ Πουλυδάμαντος […]

     grápsen dé hoi ostéon ákhris / aikhmḕ Pouludámantos […]

     and the spearpoint of Polydamas scratched him close to the bone […]

2. to draw, sketch, paint
3. to write
4. to write down, propose a law
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 1.7.34

     ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν Εὐρυπτόλεμος ἔγραψε γνώμην κατὰ τὸ Καννωνοῦ ψήφισμα κρίνεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας δίχα ἕκαστον.

     taût᾽ eipṑn Euruptólemos égrapse gnṓmēn katà tò Kannōnoû psḗphisma krínesthai toùs ándras díkha hékaston.

     After saying this, Euryptolemus proposed a resolution that the men be tried under the decree of Cannonus, each one separately.

5. (middle)
   1. (indirect reflexive) write down for oneself, note down
      • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 143a

        Τερψίων   ἀτὰρ τίνες ἦσαν οἱ λόγοι; ἔχοις ἂν διηγήσασθαι;
        Εὐκλείδης   οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία, […] ἀλλ᾽ ἐγραψάμην μὲν τότ᾽ εὐθὺς οἴκαδ᾽ ἐλθὼν ὑπομνήματα […] .

        Terpsíōn   atàr tínes êsan hoi lógoi? ékhois àn diēgḗsasthai?
        Eukleídēs   ou mà tòn Día, […] all᾽ egrapsámēn mèn tót᾽ euthùs oíkad᾽ elthṑn hupomnḗmata […] .

        Terpsion: But what was the talk? Can you repeat it?
        Eucleides: No, by Zeus, but I wrote myself notes as soon as I came home.

   2. to indict, prosecute
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 13

        δεῖ […] ταῖς ἐκ τῶν νόμων τιμωρίαις παρ᾽ αὐτὰ τἀδικήματα χρῆσθαι, […] εἰ δὲ γράφοντα παράνομα, παρανόμων γραφόμενον

        deî […] taîs ek tôn nómōn timōríais par᾽ autà tadikḗmata khrêsthai, […] ei dè gráphonta paránoma, paranómōn graphómenon

        he must make use of the legal punishments for these crimes: […] if [I] proposed illegal measures, to indict [me] for breaking the law

      • οἱ γραψάμενοι

        hoi grapsámenoi

        the prosecutors

6. (perfect passive) be written down, be in written form
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 143a

     Εὐκλείδης   […] ὥστε μοι σχεδόν τι πᾶς ὁ λόγος γέγραπται.

     Eukleídēs   […] hṓste moi skhedón ti pâs ho lógos gégraptai.

     Eucleides:   […] So I have pretty much the whole conversation written down.

References

• 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
• γράφω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• γράφω in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Further reading

• γράφω in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• γράφω in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• γράφω in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1125 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• γράφω in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō).

Verb

γράφω • (gráfo) (simple past έγραψα, passive γράφομαι)

1. write, pen
2. record
3. ticket (for a violation of a local or traffic law)