Plato › Greek Lexicon › βούλομαι

βούλομαι

boulomai

will, wish, be willing

Appears 1,010 times across Plato's dialogues.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

βούλομαι (Ep. also βόλομαι, q. v.), Dor. βώλ- (q. v.), Aeol. βόλλ- (v. βόλομαι), Thess. βέλλ- IG 9(2).517.20, Boeot. βείλ- ib.7.3080, βήλ- SIG 1185.18 (Tanagra, iii B. C.), Locr.and Delph. δείλ- IG 9(1).334.3, GDI 2034.10, Coan, etc. δήλ- (q. v.), Ion. 2sg. βούλεαι Od. 18.364, Hdt. 1.11: impf. ἐβουλόμην Il. 11.79, etc.; ἠβουλόμην E. Hel. 752, D. 1.15, etc.; Ion. 3pl. ἐβουλέατο codd. in Hdt. 1.4, 3.143: fut. βουλήσομαι A. Pr. 867, S. OT 1077, etc.; later fut. βουληθήσομαι v.l. in Aristid. Or. 48(24).8, Gal. 13.636: aor. ἐβουλήθην, also ἠβ- (v. infr.), βουληθείς S. OC 732, IG 22.1236, etc., but Ep. aor. subj. 3sg. βούλεται (from *βόλσ-ε-ται) Il. 1.67: pf. βεβούλημαι D. 18.2; also βέβουλα (προ-) Il. 1.113 (ἐβέβουλε dub. in Epigr. in Berl.Sitzb. 1894.907):— forms with augm. ἠ- are found in Att. Inscrr. from 300 B.C. onwards, as IG 22.657, al., and occur frequently in Mss. as ἠβούλοντο v.l.in Th. 2.2, 6.79, ἠβούλου Hyp. Lyc. 11; said to be Ionic in An.Ox. 2.374.— An Act. βούλητε ( = βούλησθε) Mitteis Chr. 361.10 (iv A. D.):—Α. will, wish, be willing, Hom., etc.: usu. implying choice or preference (cf. IV) opp. ἐθέλω ‘consent’, εἰ βούλει, ἐγὼ ἐθέλω Pl. Grg. 522e, cf. R. 347b, 437b; ἐὰν βούλῃ σὺ . . ἐὰν θεὸς ἐθέλῃ Id. Alc. 1.135d; ἂν οἵ τε θεοὶ ʼθέλωσι καὶ ὑμεῖς βούλησθε D. 2.20; οὔτʼ ἀκούειν ἠθέλετʼ οὔτε πιστεύειν ἐβούλεσθε Id. 19.23; but ἐθέλω is also used = ‘wish’, λέξαι θέλω σοι, πρὶν θανεῖν, ἃ βούλομαι, E. Alc. 281 (so ἐθέλω εἰπεῖν Pl. Prt. 309b, but φράσαι τι βούλομαι Ar. Pl. 1090): Hom. uses βούλομαι for ἐθέλω in the case of the gods, for with them wish is will: ἐθέλω is more general, and is sts. used where βούλομαι might have stood, e.g. Il. 7.182.—Construct.: mostly c. inf., Τρώεσσιν ἐβούλετο κῦδος ὀρέξαι 11.79, etc.; sts. c. inf. fut., Thgn. 184; c. acc. et inf., Od. 4.353, and freq. in Prose: when βούλομαι is folld. by acc. only, an inf. may generally be supplied, as καί κε τὸ βουλοίμην (sc. γενέσθαι) Od. 20.316; ἔτυχεν ὧν ἐβούλετο (sc. τυχεῖν) Antiph. 18.6; πλακοῦντα β. (sc. σε λέγειν) Id. 52.11; καὶ εἰ μάλα βούλεται ἄλλῃ [Ποσειδάων] (sc. τοῦτο γενέσθαι) Il. 15.51; so εἰς τὸ βαλανεῖον βούλομαι (sc. ἰέναι) Ar. Ra. 1279; βουλοίμην ἄν (sc. τόδε γενέσθαι) Pl. Euthphr. 3a. 2. in Hom. of gods, c. acc. rei et dat. pers., Τρώεσσιν . . ἐβούλετο νίκην he willed victory to the Trojans, Il. 7.21, cf. 23.682: later c. acc., τὸ βουλόμενον τὴν πολιτείαν πλῆθος that supports the constitution, Arist. Pol. 1309b17. II. Att. usages: 1. βούλει or βούλεσθε folld. by Verb in subj., βούλει λάβωμαι; would you have me take hold? S. Ph. 761; βούλει φράσω; Ar. Eq. 36, cf. Pl. Phd. 79a, R. 596a; ποῦ δὴ βούλει ἀναγνῶμεν; Id. Phdr. 228e. 2. εἰ βούλει if you please, S. Ant. 1168, X. An. 3.4.41; also εἰ δὲ βούλει, ἐὰν δὲ βούλῃ, to express a concession, or if you like, Pl. Smp. 201a, etc.; εἰ μὲν β., φρονήσει, εἰ δὲ β., ἰσχύι Id. R. 432a. 3. ὁ βουλόμενος any one who likes, Hdt. 1.54, Th. 1.26, etc.; ἔδωκεν ἅπαντι τῷ βουλομένῳ D. 21.45; ὁ β. the ‘common in former’, Ar. Pl. 918 (whence, in jest, βούλομαι ib.908); ὅστις βούλει who or which ever you like, Pl. Grg. 517b, Cra. 432a. 4. βουλομένῳ μοί ἐστι, c. inf., it is according to my wish that . . , Th. 2.3; εἰ σοὶ β. ἐστὶν ἀποκρίνεσθαι Pl. Grg. 448d; also τὰ θεῶν οὕτω βουλόμενʼ ἔσται E. IA 33; τὸ κεἰνου βουλόμενον his wish, ib. 1270; but with pass. sense, τὸ β. the object of desire, Luc. Am. 37, Plu. Art. 28. 5. τί βουλόμενος; with what purpose? Pl. Phd. 63a, D. 18.172; τί βουληθεὶς πάρει ; S. El. 1100. III. mean, Pl. R. 362e, 590e, etc.; τί ἡμῖν βούλεται οὗτος ὁ μῦθος; (folld. by β. λέγειν ὡς . . ) Id. Tht. 156c; τί β. σημαίνειν τὸ τέρας D.H. 4.59; βούλεται εἶναι professes or pretends to be, Pl. R. 595c; β. τὸ ὄνομα ἐπικεῖσθαι Id. Cra. 412c; freq. in Arist., τὸ ἀκούσιον βούλεται λέγεσθαι οὐκ εἰ . . EN 1110b30; β. ἄσωτος εἶναι ὁ ἕν τι κακὸν ἔχων ib.1119b34; β. ὁ πρᾶος ἀτάραχος εἶναι ib.1125b33; tend to be, ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος φύσις β. εἶναι ἄχυμος Id. Sens. 441a3; β. ἤδη τότε εἶναι πόλις ὅταν . . Id. Pol. 1261b12, cf. 1293b40; ἡ φύσις β. μὲν τοῦτο ποιεῖν πολλάκις, οὐ μέντοι δύναται ib. 1255b3, cf. GA 778a4, al. 2. to be wont, X. An. 6.3.18. IV. folld. by ἤ . . , prefer, for βούλομαι μᾶλλον (which is more usu. in Prose), βούλομʼ ἐγὼ λαὸν σόον ἔμμεναι ἢ ἀπολέσθαι I had rather . . , Il. 1.117, cf. 23.594, Od. 3.232, 11.489, 12.350; β. τὸ μέν τι εὐτυχέειν . . ἢ εὐτυχέειν τὰ πάντα Hdt. 3.40; β. παρθενεύεσθαι πλέω χρόνον ἢ πατρὸς ἐστερῆσθαι (for πολὺν χρόνον, μᾶλλον ἤ . . ) ib.124, cf. E. Andr. 351; less freq. without ἤ . . , πολὺ βούλομαι αὐτὴν οἴκοι ἔχειν I much prefer . . , Il. 1.112, cf. Od. 15.88. (gṷel-gṷol-, cf. the dialectic forms.)
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