κατά -> about, about the time, according to, after, against, answering to the description of, as befits, as far as concerns, as is, at a time, befits, bestowed upon, by the favour of, concerning, distributively, down, down by, down from, down into, down upon, downward motion, downwards, during, for, for the purpose, in accordance with, in answer to, in quest of, in relation to, in separate, in the course of, like, more or less, motion from above, naturally, nearly, on every, opposite, over, over against, partially, so as to, sometime, somewhere in, throughout, towards, upon

[Margrand]

• Tweet

Hi!

I am looking for help concerning the meaning of the word κατά in Ancient Greek. The UChicago online dictionary says κατά means under, against (+ gen); according to, throughout (+ acc.).

How should I understand κατά in it possible topographic meaning: under, against, opposite? What is the most common meaning for κατά in Ancient Greek?

Rgs

MG

[spiros]

I am guessing you had a look at: https://lsj.gr/wiki/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC

 3. opposite, over against

Full possibilities:

about, about the time, according to, after, against, answering to the description of, as befits, as far as concerns, as is, at a time, befits, bestowed upon, by the favour of, concerning, distributively, down, down by, down from, down into, down upon, downward motion, downwards, during, for, for the purpose, in accordance with, in answer to, in quest of, in relation to, in separate, in the course of, like, more or less, motion from above, naturally, nearly, on every, opposite, over, over against, partially, so as to, sometime, somewhere in, throughout, towards, upon, very like, way, with

[billberg23]

All depends, of course, on the grammatical case the preposition is used with.  To narrow down the meanings:  with the genitive (possessive), it most often means "against";  with the accusative (objective), it most often means "according to."  Τopographically, it may typically mean "under" or "towards" with the genitive;  with the accusative, "along" or "opposite."  We need to see your context!