πρώην

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

πρῴην (prōíēn) (Iliad)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *preh₃i, from *pró (“toward, leading to”). See also πρωῐ̈́ (proï̈́, “morning”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /prɔ̌ː.ɛːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.e̝n/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.in/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.in/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.in/

Adverb

πρώην • (prṓēn)

lately, just now
the day before yesterday

Derived terms

πρωῐ̈́ (prōĭ̈́)
πρώϊζα (prṓïza)
πρώϊος (prṓïos)

Descendants

Greek: πρώην (próin)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “πρώην”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1243-4

Further reading

“πρώην”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
πρώην in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
πρώην, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρώην (prṓēn, “lately”).

Adjective

πρώην • (próin) (indeclinable)

former, ex, onetime, sometime

Usage notes

πρώην refers to any previous holder(s) of an office or position; τέως refers to the immediately previous holder of an office or position.
όλοι οι πρώην πρωθυπουργοί και ο τέως Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας
all the previous prime ministers and the previous President of the Republic

Coordinate terms

τέως (téos, “former, ex-”, adverb)

Further reading

πρώην, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language