δύνω
dunō

Greek verb

Last edited: 2025-02-03
Primary meaning to set
Literal translation to sink
Variants
δύνω dunō
δύω duō
Edited by

to set astronomical event

Ἀπορεῖται δή, πῶς καὶ ἐν ταῖς μακροτάταις καὶ ἐν ταῖς βραχυτάταις νύκτεσιν ἡμικύκλιον τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου καὶ ἀνατέλλει καὶ δύνει.

‘The question is then, how both in the longest and in the shortest nights a semicircle of the zodiac both rises and sets.’

— Geminus 7.14

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 44

Δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα καὶ Πληΐαδες· μέσαι δὲ νύκτες, παρὰ δ’ ἔρχετ’ ὤρα, ἔγω δὲ μόνα κατεύδω.

‘Set are the moon and Pleiades; and it is midnight, and time passes, and I sleep alone.’

— Sappho, Fragment 168B

Genre: lyric poetry
Date: 7th-6th century BCE

Sappho. 1990. Greek Lyric, 1. Sappho and Alcaeus, ed. D.A. Campbell, 2nd edition. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 172

The attribution of this fragment to Sappho is uncertain.


to sink verb of motion

Οἷος δ’ ἐκ νεφέων ἀναφαίνεται οὔλιος ἀστὴρ παμφαίνων, τοτὲ δ’ αὖτις ἔδυ νέφεα σκιόεντα, ὣς Ἕκτωρ ὁτὲ μέν τε μετὰ πρώτοισι φάνεσκεν, ἄλλοτε δ’ ἐν πυμάτοισι κελεύων· (...)

‘And as a baneful star plainly appeared out of the clouds beaming, and then again sank into the shadowy clouds, so Hector would appear now with the foremost and then among the hindmost, giving orders; (...)’

— Homer, Iliad 11.62-65

Genre: epic
Date: 8th century BCE

Homer. 1920. Homeri Opera in five volumes, eds. D.B. Monro & T.W. Allen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


See also

ŠU₂ rabûto set

δύσις dusissetting

δυσμή dusmēsetting

καταδύνω katadunōto set

συνδύνω sundunōto set simultaneously

συγκαταδύνω sunkatadunōto set simultaneously

προδύνω produnōto set earlier

ἐπικαταδύνω epikatadunōto set later

προκαταδύνω prokatadunōto set earlier

ἐπιδύνω epidunōto set

occido to set

בָּא bāʾto set

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). δύνω (Lemma #416). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/

Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). δύνω (Lemma #416). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/

MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). δύνω (Lemma #416). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/

Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) δύνω (Lemma #416), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).

BibTeX
@misc{zodiac416,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {δύνω ({Lemma} #416)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/416/},
}