ἀναβαίνω

• ἀμβαίνω (ambaínō) — Epic

From ᾰ̓νᾰ- (ănă-, “up”) +‎ βαίνω (baínō, “to go”).

ᾰ̓νᾰβαίνω • (ănăbaínō)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to go up, mount
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.497:

     ἠερίη δ’ ἀνέβη μέγαν οὐρανὸν Οὔλυμπόν τε

     ēeríē d’ anébē mégan ouranòn Oúlumpón te

     And at early morning she went up to great heaven and Olympus.

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.29:

     ἐκ γάρ τοι τούτων φάτις ἀνθρώπους ἀναβαίνει ἐσθλή

     ek gár toi toútōn phátis anthrṓpous anabaínei esthlḗ

     It is from things like these that good report goeth up among men.

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.493:

     νεκροῖς ἀμβαίνοντες

     nekroîs ambaínontes

     as they trod over dead men

   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.131.2:

     οἳ δὲ νομίζουσι Διὶ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλότατα τῶν ὀρέων ἀναβαίνοντες θυσίας ἔρδειν

     hoì dè nomízousi Diì mèn epì tà hupsēlótata tôn oréōn anabaínontes thusías érdein

     they customarily go up onto the highest parts of the mountains to make sacrifices

   1. (transitive, intransitive) to board a ship, embark
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.210:

        πρίν γε τὸν ἐς Τροίην ἀναβήμεναι

        prín ge tòn es Troíēn anabḗmenai

        before he embarked for the land of Troy

   2. (intransitive) to mount
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.1.7:

        ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον ἤλασε καὶ πρὸς Κυαξάρην ἐλθὼν

        anabàs epì tòn híppon ḗlase kaì pròs Kuaxárēn elthṑn

        he mounted his horse and rode away to Cyaxares

   3. (of rivers, intransitive) to rise
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.13.1:

        εἰ μὴ ἐπ’ ἑκκαίδεκα […] πήχεας ἀναβῇ τὸ ἐλάχιστον ὁ ποταμός

        ei mḕ ep’ hekkaídeka […] pḗkheas anabēî tò elákhiston ho potamós

        if the river does not rise at least twenty six […] feet

   4. (intransitive) to shoot up (rise rapidly)
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 19.18:

        αὐτίκα ἄμπελος ἀναβαίνουσα μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ δένδρα

        autíka ámpelos anabaínousa mèn epì tà déndra

        For instance, the vine climbs the trees

   5. (Attic, intransitive, often with ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα (epì tò bêma)) to mount the tribune, i.e. rise to speak
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 66:

        ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ἀφ’ ἧς αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμ’ ἀνέβην

        ek pantòs toû khrónou mékhri tês hēméras aph’ hês autòs epì tò bêm’ anébēn

        from the dawn of history to the day when I first ascended the tribune

   6. (of animals, transitive, intransitive) to mount (i.e. to mate)
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.192.3
      • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, Fragments 329
      • 280 BCE – 220 BCE, Philo of Byzantium, Compendium of Mechanics 1.651
   7. (of age)
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon 1.7
   8. (intransitive) to ascend to higher knowledge
      • 490 CE – 560 CE, Simplicius, On Aristotle's Physics 15.34
      • 490 CE – 560 CE, Simplicius, On Aristotle's Physics 9.30
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 2.5
   9. (transitive) to surpass
      • 490 CE – 600 CE, John the Lydian, De Ostentis 22
2. (of events) to turn out
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.10.2:

     καὶ ἢν μὲν τῇ σὺ λέγεις ἀναβαίνῃ βασιλέι τὰ πρήγματα

     kaì ḕn mèn tēî sù légeis anabaínēi basiléi tà prḗgmata

     If the king's fortunes fare as you say

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians 2.17:

     καὶ ἂν μέν τι κακὸν ἀναβαίνῃ ἀπὸ ὧν ὁ δῆμος ἐβούλευσεν

     kaì àn mén ti kakòn anabaínēi apò hôn ho dêmos eboúleusen

     And if anything bad results from the people's plans

   1. (intransitive, with καρδία (kardía)) to enter into one's heart
      • 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of Luke 24:38:

        καὶ διὰ τί διαλογισμοὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν;

        kaì dià tí dialogismoì anabaínousin en tēî kardíāi humôn?

        "Why do doubts arise in your hearts?"

   2. (intransitive) to come to, pass to
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.205.1:

        οὕτω δὴ ἐς Λεωνίδην ἀνέβαινε ἡ βασιληίη

        hoútō dḕ es Leōnídēn anébaine hē basilēíē

        The kingship therefore passed to Leonidas

3. (intransitive) to go back
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Democritus, Collected Works 144a
   • 161 CE – 180 CE, Hermogenes, On Invention 2.2

• καταβαίνω (katabaínō)

• Translingual: Anabaena, Anabas
• Greek: Medieval Byzantine Greek: ἀνεβαίνω (anebaínō) and Modern. Monotonic script: ανεβαίνω

• “ἀναβαίνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀναβαίνω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀναβαίνω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀναβαίνω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀναβαίνω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀναβαίνω in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “ἀναβαίνω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G305 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible