ἱκανός

See also: ικανός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the root of ἱκνέομαι (hiknéomai, “to be appropriate”) +‎ -νος (-nos).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hi.ka.nós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)i.kaˈnos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /i.kaˈnos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /i.kaˈnos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.kaˈnos/

Adjective

ῐ̔κᾰνός • (hĭkănós) m (feminine ῐ̔κᾰνή, neuter ῐ̔κᾰνόν); first/second declension

becoming, befitting, sufficient
1. (of people) competent, strong or skillful enough
  - 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.45
  - 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Against the Stepmother for Poisoning 15
  - 431 BCE – 404 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.9
  - 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Funeral Oration 42
  - c. 370 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.4.12
  - 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Constitution of Sparta 8.4
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 277A
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 875A
  - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 25.3.6
  - 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.4
  - c. 370 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.6.15
  - 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 467D
  - p. 365 BC, Xenophon, On Horsemanship 2.1
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 322C
  - 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus Rex 377
  - 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 132
  - 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Helen 38
  - 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Lysis 204A
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 327C
  - 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 20.3
  - 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Ruth 1.21
2. (of things) adequate, enough, considerable
  - 408 BCE, Euripides, The Phoenician Women 554
  - 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Lysistrata 1047
  - 431 BCE – 404 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.77
  - 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hiero 4.9
  - 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 371E
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 322B
  - 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 4.121
  - 431 BCE – 404 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.2
  - 415 BCE, Euripides, The Trojan Women 996
  - 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 373D
  - 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, First Tetralogy 2.2
  - 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, First Tetralogy 1.6
  - 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 354
  - 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Against Simon 10
  - 4th century BC, Isaeus, Menecles 7
  1. satisfactory
    - c. 385 BCE, Plato, Symposium 179B
    - 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Hippias Minor 369C
    - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 32.3.13
    - 3rd century CE, Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 4.50
    - 65 CE – 70 CE, The Gospel of Mark 15:15
    - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 11.25.1
    - 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 11.40

Inflection

First and second declension of ῐ̔κᾰνός; ῐ̔κᾰνή; ῐ̔κᾰνόν (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ῐ̔κᾰνός hĭkănós	ῐ̔κᾰνή hĭkănḗ	ῐ̔κᾰνόν hĭkănón	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνᾱ́ hĭkănā́	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνοί hĭkănoí	ῐ̔κᾰναί hĭkănaí	ῐ̔κᾰνᾰ́ hĭkănắ
Genitive	ῐ̔κᾰνοῦ hĭkănoû	ῐ̔κᾰνῆς hĭkănês	ῐ̔κᾰνοῦ hĭkănoû	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖν hĭkănoîn	ῐ̔κᾰναῖν hĭkănaîn	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖν hĭkănoîn	ῐ̔κᾰνῶν hĭkănôn	ῐ̔κᾰνῶν hĭkănôn	ῐ̔κᾰνῶν hĭkănôn
Dative	ῐ̔κᾰνῷ hĭkănōî	ῐ̔κᾰνῇ hĭkănēî	ῐ̔κᾰνῷ hĭkănōî	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖν hĭkănoîn	ῐ̔κᾰναῖν hĭkănaîn	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖν hĭkănoîn	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖς hĭkănoîs	ῐ̔κᾰναῖς hĭkănaîs	ῐ̔κᾰνοῖς hĭkănoîs
Accusative	ῐ̔κᾰνόν hĭkănón	ῐ̔κᾰνήν hĭkănḗn	ῐ̔κᾰνόν hĭkănón	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνᾱ́ hĭkănā́	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνούς hĭkănoús	ῐ̔κᾰνᾱ́ς hĭkănā́s	ῐ̔κᾰνᾰ́ hĭkănắ
Vocative	ῐ̔κᾰνέ hĭkăné	ῐ̔κᾰνή hĭkănḗ	ῐ̔κᾰνόν hĭkănón	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνᾱ́ hĭkănā́	ῐ̔κᾰνώ hĭkănṓ	ῐ̔κᾰνοί hĭkănoí	ῐ̔κᾰναί hĭkănaí	ῐ̔κᾰνᾰ́ hĭkănắ
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	ῐ̔κᾰνῶς hĭkănôs			ῐ̔κᾰνώτερος hĭkănṓteros			ῐ̔κᾰνώτᾰτος hĭkănṓtătos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ῐ̔κᾰνότης (hĭkănótēs)
ἱκανόω (hikanóō)
ῐ̔κᾰνῶς (hĭkănôs)

Descendants

Coptic: ϩⲓⲕⲁⲛⲟⲥ (hikanos)
Greek: ικανός (ikanós)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἵκω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 586: “DER > line 4 > 5. ἱκανός 'enough'”