αὐτός

See also: αυτος, αυτός, and αὑτός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀϝτός (awtós) — Cretan
• αὑτός (hautós) — crasis with ὁ (ho)
• αὐτοσί (autosí) — emphatic

Etymology

According to Beekes, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (“again, away from”) + *to- (“that”); compare Proto-Germanic *auþijaz (“barren, empty”). Risch derives it from the Ancient Greek reflexes of those words, αὖ (aû, “back, again, other”) +‎ τόν (tón, “the”). Related to Phrygian αυτος (autos), thus probably representing a common innovation.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /au̯.tós/ → /aɸˈtos/ → /afˈtos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /au̯.tós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aʍˈtos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aɸˈtos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /afˈtos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /afˈtos/

• Audio (Classical Attic); “αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό” (“autós, autḗ, autó”):

  (file)

Pronoun

αὐτός • (autós) (feminine αὐτή, neuter αὐτό); first/second declension

1. (without article) self
   1. (in nominative, emphasizing the subject)
   2. (reflexive pronoun, in oblique cases) himself, herself, itself, themselves
   3. (in philosophy, of an abstract idea) by or in itself
2. (without article, in oblique cases, 3rd person personal pronoun) he, she, it, they
3. (with definite article) same

Usage notes

The intended sense of αὐτός is generally defined by its grammatical context. When used as a lone nominal without an article, it is generally the third person personal pronoun. When appended to a nominal and not possessing the definite article it is "self". When combined with the definite article, either appended to a nominal or on its own, it is "same".

The neuter plural ταὐτά (tautá, “the same things”) (derived from τὰ αὐτά by crasis) is distinguished from ταῦτα (taûta) "these things" by the accent placement. The two sometimes occur together:

386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 85e:

οὗτος γὰρ ποιήσει περὶ πάσης γεωμετρίας ταὐτὰ ταῦτα, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μαθημάτων ἁπάντων

hoûtos gàr poiḗsei perì pásēs geōmetrías tautà taûta, kaì tôn állōn mathēmátōn hapántōn

For he will do the same as this with all geometry and every other branch of knowledge.

Inflection

First and second declension of αὐτός; αὐτή; αὐτό (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		αὐτός autós	αὐτή autḗ	αὐτό autó		αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ		αὐτοί autoí	αὐταί autaí	αὐτᾰ́ autá
Genitive		αὐτοῦ autoû	αὐτῆς autês	αὐτοῦ autoû		αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐταῖν autaîn	αὐτοῖν autoîn		αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτῶν autôn
Dative		αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτῇ autêi	αὐτῷ autôi		αὐτοῖν autoîn	αὐταῖν autaîn	αὐτοῖν autoîn		αὐτοῖς autoîs	αὐταῖς autaîs	αὐτοῖς autoîs
Accusative		αὐτόν autón	αὐτήν autḗn	αὐτό autó		αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ		αὐτούς autoús	αὐτᾱ́ς autā́s	αὐτᾰ́ autá
Vocative		—	—	—		—	—	—		—	—	—
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First and second declension of αὐτός; αὐτή; αὐτό (Epic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		αὐτός autós	αὐτή autḗ	αὐτό autó		αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ		αὐτοί autoí	αὐταί autaí	αὐτᾰ́ autá
Genitive		αὐτοῦ / αὐτοῖο / αὐτόο autoû / autoîo / autóo	αὐτῆς autês	αὐτοῦ / αὐτοῖο / αὐτόο autoû / autoîo / autóo		αὐτοῖῐν autoîin	αὐταῖν / αὐταῖῐν / αὐτῇῐν autaî(i)n / autêiin	αὐτοῖῐν autoîin		αὐτῶν autôn	αὐτᾱ́ων / αὐτέ͜ων / αὐτῶν autā́ōn / auté͜ōn / autôn	αὐτῶν autôn
Dative		αὐτῷ autôi	αὐτῇ autêi	αὐτῷ autôi		αὐτοῖῐν autoîin	αὐταῖν / αὐταῖῐν / αὐτῇῐν autaî(i)n / autêiin	αὐτοῖῐν autoîin		αὐτοῖσῐ / αὐτοῖσῐν / αὐτοῖς autoîsi(n) / autoîs	αὐτῇσῐ / αὐτῇσῐν / αὐτῇς / αὐταῖς autêisi(n) / autêis / autaîs	αὐτοῖσῐ / αὐτοῖσῐν / αὐτοῖς autoîsi(n) / autoîs
Accusative		αὐτόν autón	αὐτήν autḗn	αὐτό autó		αὐτώ autṓ	αὐτᾱ́ autā́	αὐτώ autṓ		αὐτούς autoús	αὐτᾱ́ς autā́s	αὐτᾰ́ autá
Vocative		—	—	—		—	—	—		—	—	—
Notes:		Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• αὐτερέτης (auterétēs)
• αὐτοπαγής (autopagḗs)
• αὐτοσχεδόν (autoskhedón)
• αὑτοῦ (hautoû)
• ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû)
• ἐμαυτοῦ (emautoû)
• σαυτοῦ (sautoû)
• σεαυτοῦ (seautoû)
• ταὐτότης (tautótēs)

 

Descendants

• Greek: αυτός (aftós)
  • → Turkish: aftos
• Mariupol Greek: тос (tos), ато́с (atós)

Further reading

• “αὐτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αὐτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “αὐτός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• αὐτός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• αὐτός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• αὐτός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “αὐτός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G846 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• αὐτός in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • abstract idem, page 4.
  • himself idem, page 400.
  • myself idem, page 549.
  • oneself idem, page 574.
  • person idem, page 608.
  • personally idem, page 608.
  • self idem, page 750.
  • singly idem, page 779.
  • thyself idem, page 873.
  • yourself idem, page 997.
• Herbert Weir Smyth (1920) A Greek grammar for colleges. American Book Company.
• Ernst Risch (1937) Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache. Berlin. 314.