αἰών

See also: Αἰών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From earlier αἰϝών (aiwṓn), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force, life, long life, eternity”), whence also ἀεί (aeí, “always”). Cognate with Latin aevum, English aye.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ai̯.ɔ̌ːn/ → /ɛˈon/ → /eˈon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ai̯.ɔ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ɛˈon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɛˈon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈon/

Noun

αἰών • (aiṓn) m (genitive αἰῶνος); third declension

1. lifetime
2. generation
3. a long period of time, eon, epoch, age
4. the current world
5. eternity

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ αἰών; τοῦ αἰῶνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ αἰών ho aiṓn	τὼ αἰῶνε tṑ aiône	οἱ αἰῶνες hoi aiônes
Genitive	τοῦ αἰῶνος toû aiônos	τοῖν αἰώνοιν toîn aiṓnoin	τῶν αἰώνων tôn aiṓnōn
Dative	τῷ αἰῶνῐ tôi aiôni	τοῖν αἰώνοιν toîn aiṓnoin	τοῖς αἰῶσῐ / αἰῶσῐν toîs aiôsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν αἰῶνᾰ tòn aiôna	τὼ αἰῶνε tṑ aiône	τοὺς αἰῶνᾰς toùs aiônas
Vocative	αἰών aiṓn	αἰῶνε aiône	αἰῶνες aiônes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• καιρός (kairós)
• χρόνος (khrónos)

Derived terms

• αἰώνιος (aiṓnios)

Descendants

• English: aeon, eon
• Greek: αιώνας (aiónas)
• Latin: aeon
• Russian: эо́н (eón)

References

• “αἰών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αἰών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “αἰών”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• αἰών in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• αἰών in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• αἰών in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “αἰών”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G165 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• αἰών 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
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • age idem, page 18.
  • century idem, page 122.
  • life idem, page 489.
  • lifetime idem, page 490.
  • term idem, page 862.
  • time idem, page 875.