μή

See also: μυ, μι, and μη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μᾱ́ (mā́) — Elean

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *mḗ, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁ (prohibitive particle). Cognate with Old Armenian մի (mi), Sanskrit मा (mā), Old Persian 𐎶𐎠 (m-a /⁠mā⁠/), and Albanian mos.^[1]

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː/ → /mi/ → /mi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /me̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /mi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /mi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /mi/

Particle

μή • (mḗ) (negative particle)

1. not (used in clauses expressing will or thought)
   1. (with an imperative or subjunctive in negative commands)
   2. (with an optative or past indicative, expressing a negative wish)
   3. (in a question expecting a negative answer)
   4. (in dependent clauses)
   5. (with participle representing conditional clause)
2. (in warnings or statements of fear)
   1. (in independent clauses) that ... not; that
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 89c:

        Σωκράτης   […] ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῦτο οὐ καλῶς ὡμολογήσαμεν.

        Sōkrátēs   […] allà mḕ toûto ou kalôs hōmologḗsamen.

        Socrates: But [let's hope] that we didn't agree on this incorrectly.
        or [I'm worried] that we agreed […] .

   2. (introducing indirect statement after verb of fearing or apprehension) that

Usage notes

μή is the negative of thought or wish, but οὐ (ou) of objective statements of fact.

Derived terms

• μηδαμῇ (mēdamêi)
• μηδαμοί (mēdamoí)
• μηδαμοῦ (mēdamoû)
• μηδέ (mēdé)
• μηδείς (mēdeís)
• μηδέποτε (mēdépote)
• μηδέπω (mēdépō)
• μηδέτερος (mēdéteros)
• μηκέτι (mēkéti)
• μήπω (mḗpō)
• μήτις (mḗtis)
• μήτοι (mḗtoi)
• μῶν (môn)

 

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 941

Further reading

• “μή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μή 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
• μή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “μή”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3361 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • lest idem, page 485.
  • not idem, page 562.
  • provide idem, page 654.
  • refrain idem, page 685.