ἀνάγκη

See also: Ἀνάγκη and ανάγκη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἀναγκαίη (anankaíē) — Epic, Ionic

Etymology

Of uncertain origin, though likely from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach, attain”) and cognate with Celtic terms like Old Irish éicen (“force, necessity”) (see there for more cognates), as well as perhaps Proto-Germanic *anhtō (“persecution”). A substrate origin is also possible, though not favored.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.náŋ.kɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈnaŋ.ke̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈnaɲ.ɟi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈnaɲ.ɟi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈnaɲ.ɟi/

Noun

ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκη • (ănắnkē) f (genitive ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκης); first declension

Declension

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκη; τῆς ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκη hē ănắnkē	τὼ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκᾱ tṑ ănắnkā	αἱ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκαι hai ănắnkai
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκης tês ănắnkēs	τοῖν ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκαιν toîn ănắnkain	τῶν ᾰ̓νᾰγκῶν tôn ănănkôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκῃ tēî ănắnkēi	τοῖν ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκαιν toîn ănắnkain	ταῖς ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκαις taîs ănắnkais
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκην tḕn ănắnkēn	τὼ ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκᾱ tṑ ănắnkā	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκᾱς tā̀s ănắnkās
Vocative	ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκη ănắnkē	ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκᾱ ănắnkā	ᾰ̓νᾰ́γκαι ănắnkai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἀναγκάζω (anankázō)
ἀναγκαῖον (anankaîon)
ἀναγκαῖος (anankaîos)
ἀναγκαιότης (anankaiótēs)
Ἀνάγκη (Anánkē)
ἀναγκόσῑτος (anankósītos)
ἀναγκοφαγέω (anankophagéō)
ἐπανάγκης (epanánkēs)
κατανάγκη (katanánkē)

Descendants

Greek: ανάγκη (anágki)
Pontic Greek: ανάγκη (anágki)
- → Laz: ანანკენი (ananǩeni)
and see: Ἀνάγκη (Anánkē, “(Goddess of) Fate”)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀνάγκη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 97

“ἀνάγκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἀνάγκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἀνάγκη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἀνάγκη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἀνάγκη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἀνάγκη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G318 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.
- coercion idem, page 141.
- compulsion idem, page 154.
- constraint idem, page 165.
- exigence idem, page 292.
- fatality idem, page 309.
- force idem, page 335.
- incumbent idem, page 431.
- natural ties idem, page 552.
- necessary idem, page 553.
- necessity idem, page 554.
- need idem, page 554.
- obligation idem, page 565.
- pressure idem, page 637.
- relationship idem, page 689.
- tie idem, page 874.
- urgency idem, page 939.
ἀνάγκη, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀνάγκη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 97

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