χρεών

chreon

that which must be

Appears 7 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

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Nicomachean Ethics 5
Open Nicomachean Ethics ›
Book I 3
Chapter 2 1094a18–1094b10

1094a28

Chapter 3 1094b11–1095a13

1094b23

Chapter 10 1100a10–1101a21

1100a11
Book IX 1
Chapter 8 1168a28–1169b2

1168b11
Book X 1
Chapter 8 1178a9–1179a32

1178b10
De Mundo 1
Open De Mundo ›
Chapter 6 397b7–401a11

398a8
Parts of Animals 1
Open Parts of Animals ›
Book III 1
Chapter 1 661a34–662b22

661b27

Dictionary (LSJ)

χρεών, Ion. χρεόν (the form best attested in Parm. 8.45 and Hdt.); also χρειών, Democr. 55, τό: gen. τοῦ χρεών E. Hipp. 1256, HF 21, but little used save in nom. and acc.:—A. that which must be, κατὰ τὸ χ. Anaximand. 1 (Diels Vorsokr. 5); τὴν μοῖραν εἰς τὸ μὴ χ. παραστρέφων E. Fr. 491.3; χ. τοῦ χρησμοῦ Plu. Nic. 14. II. necessity, fate, ἥ τε ἡλικία καὶ τὸ χ. Pl. Phdr. 255a; μοίρας τοῦ χρεών τʼ ἀπαλλαγή E. Hipp. 1256; εἰς τὸ χ. ἰέναι Pl. Ax. 364c; ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸ χ., εἰς τὸ χ. ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι, Str. 1.3.21, J. AJ 7.15.1; οἱ τὴν εἰς τὸ χ. πορευόμενοι (cj. for ποιούμενοι), v. l. τῶν εἰς τὸ χ. ὁδευόντων, Plu. 2.113c; τό τοι χρεὼν οὐκ ἔστι μὴ χρεὼν ποιεῖν Trag.Adesp. 368; ὅ τι γὰρ μὴ χ. οὔτοι χ. παθεῖν E. Ba. 515; [Ἀλέξανδρον] τὸ χ. ἐν Βαβυλῶνι κατέλαβε Jul. Or. 3.107c. 2. mostly in the phrase χρεών (sc. ἐστι), like χρή, it is necessary, c. inf., Thgn. 564, A. Ag. 922, S. OT 633, Democr. l. c., etc.: c. acc. et inf., Pi. P. 2.52, Hdt. 1.41,57, 2.133, A. Pr. 772,970, al., S. Ph. 1439, Ar. Eq. 138, Th. 5.49; τὸ χ. γενέσθαι Hdt. 7.17. 3. sts. as a neut. part. (like ἐξόν, etc.), it being necessary, since it was necessary, Id. 5.50. III. less freq., that which is expedient or right, ὅρκον δʼ οὔτʼ ἄδικον χ. ἔμμεναι οὔτε δίκαιον Choeril. 7; ἔννεπε τί σοι χρεὼν ὑπουργεῖν S. Ph. 143 (lyr.); μητέρʼ εἰ χ. ταύτην προσαυδᾶν Id. El. 273, cf. 983, Ar. Nu. 1446(lyr.), etc.; with the Art., ἔκανες ὃν οὐ χρῆν, καὶ τὸ μὴ χ. πάθε A. Ch. 930: abs. in part., ὑμεῖς ἂν οὐ χ. ἄρχοιτε ye would rule unrightfully, Th. 3.40.—In Trag. χρεών ( = χρή) appears without ἐστί or ἦν; in Ar. and Prose the verb is more commonly added, but not in Ar. Nu. l. c., Pl. Sph. 220d, Criti. 107b, al. IV. as Adj., τῷ χ. πόσει E. Fr. 501. (Not in Hom. or Hes., Od. 15.201 being f. l. for χρεώ.) [In Poets χρεών is sts. monosyll., as in Choeril. l. c., Parm. 4.5, al.; outside of hexameters prob. always disyll., since χρή can be restored in E. IT 1486, Fr. 733.3.] (From χρεώ, with addition of ν from the synonym δέον; when used as part. abs., as in Sol. Fr. 34.6, Th. 3.40, from χρεὼ ὄν.)

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

Index Aristotelicus. Hermann Bonitz's sense-by-sense analysis of χρεών — with the passages he singles out as decisive for each meaning — will appear here. That curated, interpretive selection is the layer LSJ and a raw concordance don't provide. Digitisation in progress; this entry is not yet available.

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