δυνατός

• δύνατος (dúnatos) — Aeolic

From δύναμαι (dúnamai, “to be able”) +‎ -τός (-tós, verbal adjective suffix).^[1]

δῠνᾰτός • (dŭnătós) m (feminine δῠνᾰτή, neuter δῠνᾰτόν); first/second declension

1. strong, mighty
   • 484 BCE – 425 BCE, Herodotus, 9 31:

     ὅ τι μὲν ἦν αὐτῶν δυνατώτατον πᾶν ἀπολέξας ἔστησε ἀντίον Λακεδαιμονίων

     hó ti mèn ên autôn dunatṓtaton pân apoléxas éstēse antíon Lakedaimoníōn

     • 1920 translation by A. D. Godley

       In his arraying of them he chose out the strongest part of the Persians to set it over against the Lacedaemonians

   • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension 12:

     ὅτι δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοὺς ᾐτημένους ἵππους ἀναβαίνω, πειρᾶσθαι πείθειν ὑμᾶς ὡς δυνατός εἰμι

     hóti d’ epì toùs ēitēménous híppous anabaínō, peirâsthai peíthein humâs hōs dunatós eimi

     • 1930 translation by W.R.M. Lamb

       because I mount borrowed horses, he should try to persuade you that I am.

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 7.23:

     τῇ δὲ γυναικὶ ἧττον τὸ σῶμα δυνατὸν πρὸς ταῦτα φύσας τὰ ἔνδον ἔργα αὐτῇ, φάναι ἔφη, προστάξαι μοι δοκεῖ ὁ θεός.

     tēî dè gunaikì hêtton tò sôma dunatòn pròs taûta phúsas tà éndon érga autēî, phánai éphē, prostáxai moi dokeî ho theós.

     • 1923 translation by E. C. Marchant

       To the woman, since he has made her body less capable of such endurance, I take it that God has assigned the indoor tasks.

   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 9.39
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.1.19:

     ἢ ἵνα δυνατοὶ γενόμενοι καὶ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς καὶ τὸν ἑαυτῶν οἶκον καλῶς οἰκῶσι καὶ τοὺς φίλους εὖ ποιῶσι καὶ τὴν πατρίδα εὐεργετῶσι

     ḕ hína dunatoì genómenoi kaì toîs sṓmasi kaì taîs psukhaîs kaì tòn heautôn oîkon kalôs oikôsi kaì toùs phílous eû poiôsi kaì tḕn patrída euergetôsi

     • 1921 translation by E. C. Marchant

       or to make themselves capable in body and soul of managing their own homes well, of helping their friends and serving their country?

   • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Hippias Minor 366:

     τοὺς ψευδεῖς φῂς εἶναι δυνατοὺς καὶ φρονίμους καὶ ἐπιστήμονας καὶ σοφοὺς εἰς ἅπερ ψευδεῖς.

     toùs pseudeîs phēìs eînai dunatoùs kaì phronímous kaì epistḗmonas kaì sophoùs eis háper pseudeîs.

     • 1925 translation

       the false are among the powerful and the wise, according to your statement.

   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, 7 60:

     ὅσαι ἦσαν καὶ δυναταὶ καὶ ἀπλοώτεραι, πάντα τινὰ ἐσβιβάζοντες πληρῶσαι, καὶ διαναυμαχήσαντες, ἢν μὲν νικῶσιν, ἐς Κατάνην κομίζεσθαι.

     hósai êsan kaì dunataì kaì aploṓterai, pánta tinà esbibázontes plērôsai, kaì dianaumakhḗsantes, ḕn mèn nikôsin, es Katánēn komízesthai.

     • 1881 translation by Benjamin Jowett

       whether fit for service or not; they would then fight a decisive battle, and, if they conquered, go to Catana.

   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 351:

     ἐλέχθη γάρ που ὅτι καὶ δυνατώτερον καὶ ἰσχυρότερον εἴη ἀδικία δικαιοσύνης.

     elékhthē gár pou hóti kaì dunatṓteron kaì iskhuróteron eíē adikía dikaiosúnēs.

     • 1969 translation

       For the statement made, I believe, was that injustice is a more potent and stronger thing than justice.

   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, 10 31.8:

     ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἑκάστης ἐπέκειτο χαρακώματα διπλᾶ καὶ τελευταῖον προτείχισμα δυνατόν.

     epì dè toîs kheílesin hekástēs epékeito kharakṓmata diplâ kaì teleutaîon proteíkhisma dunatón.

     • 1922 translation by William Roger Paton

       Each defended at its edge by a double row of palisades, and behind all there was strong wall.

   1. (with infinitive) able to do
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.97
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 10.9
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.139
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 319A
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians 29.5
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians 1.3
      • 408 BCE, Euripides, Orestes 523
   2. (of outward power) powerful, influential
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 219
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.53
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.65
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.13
   3. able to produce
      • Geoponica 2.21.5
2. (passive voice, of things) possible, practical
   • 630 BCE – 570 BCE, Sappho, Papyrus Fragments 5.21
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.111
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 97
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 4.1.24
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 90C
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1295A.30
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 422D
   • 349 BCE, Demosthenes, Third Olynthiac 6
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.24
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 277A
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 4.2.23
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cynegeticus 5.8
   • 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 997
   • 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 183
   • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 278
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.5.5
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Timocrates 13
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.89
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 1359B.1
3. (adverbial) strongly, powerfully
   • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, On the Embassy 48
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 516D
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.11
4. (in phrases, such as, κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν, ὅσον δυνατόν) as much as is possible

• ἀδύνατος (adúnatos)

• Greek: δυνατός (dynatós)

• “δυνατός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δυνατός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δυνατός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• δυνατός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “δυνατός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1415 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • able idem, page 2.
  • capable idem, page 111.
  • competent idem, page 151.
  • effective idem, page 262.
  • feasible idem, page 312.
  • grandee idem, page 369.
  • great idem, page 372.
  • influential idem, page 439.
  • mighty idem, page 528.
  • noble idem, page 559.
  • possible idem, page 628.
  • potent idem, page 629.
  • powerful idem, page 630.
  • practicable idem, page 631.
  • strong idem, page 827.

From Ancient Greek δυνατός (dunatós).

δυνατός • (dynatós) m (feminine δυνατή, neuter δυνατό)

1. strong, loud
2. strong, powerful
3. possible, potential

• (powerful, influential): ισχυρός (ischyrós)

• βάζω τα δυνατά μου (vázo ta dynatá mou, “do my best”)