ὑπέρ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ὕπερ (húper) — postpositive form with initial stress
• ῠ̔πείρ (hupeír) — Epic
• ὁπέρ (hopér) — Arcadocypriot

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *hupér, from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over, above”), from *upo (“under, below”) (whence English up). Cognates include Latin super and Proto-Germanic *uber (whence English over).^[1]

The genitive is from the PIE ablative of separation or cause. The accusative is from the pre-PIE directional.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hy.pér/ → /yˈper/ → /iˈper/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hy.pér/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)yˈper/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /yˈper/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /yˈper/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /iˈper/

Preposition

ῠ̔πέρ • (hupér) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)

1. [with genitive]
   1. over, above
   2. farther inland
   3. (nautical, of ships at sea) off of
   4. over, across
   5. beyond
   6. (figuratively)
      1. in defense of, on behalf of
      2. for the prosperity or safety of
      3. for, instead of, in the name of; by commission from
      4. as representative of, in the name of
      5. for, because of, by reason of, on account of
      6. for the purpose of preventing or avoiding, for the sake of
   7. concerning
2. [with accusative]
   1. (of place) over, beyond
   2. (of measure) above, exceeding, beyond
      1. (after comparative) than
      2. in violation of
   3. (of number) above, upwards of
   4. (of time) before, earlier than
   5. on behalf of
3. (+ dative, Aeolic) for

Usage notes

• A primary preposition; “over”, that is, (with the genitive case) of place, above, beyond, across, or causal, for the sake of, instead, regarding; with the accusative case superior to, more than.
• In compounds it retains many of the above applications.

Antonyms

• ὑπό (hupó)

Derived terms

• πανυπέρτατος (panupértatos)
• ὕπερθεν (húperthen)
• ὑπέρτατος (hupértatos)
• ὑπέρτερος (hupérteros)

 

Descendants

• → English: hyper-
• → French: hyper
• → Irish: hipir-
• → Russian: гипер- (giper-)

Adverb

ῠ̔πέρ • (hupér)

1. overmuch, above measure

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὕπερ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1533

Further reading

• “ὑπέρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὑπέρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ὑπέρ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ὑπέρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ὑπέρ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ὑπέρ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G5228 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.
  • about idem, page 2.
  • above idem, page 3.
  • across idem, page 9.
  • ashamed idem, page 43.
  • behalf idem, page 71.
  • fear idem, page 312.
  • for idem, page 334.
  • intercede idem, page 449.
  • interest idem, page 450.
  • over idem, page 584.
  • past idem, page 597.
  • sake idem, page 732.
  • support idem, page 841.
  • trouble idem, page 897.