John 11:49

ἐνιαυτός (eniautos) has two primary senses, stemming from its root and various contexts of use. Initially, it referred to an object with a circular shape, such as a ring-shaped item or specific cup (Ath. 783c). By analogy to its circular form, it later came to mean a periodic cycle of time, often applied to astronomical periods, such as a 600-year cycle (e.g., Metonic cycle in ancient astronomy) or other cosmological cycles (Od. 1.16; DS. 2.47). Most commonly, ἐνιαυτός denotes a year in texts like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, where it describes a year’s duration. Notable usages include ἐνιαυτόν ("for a year" or "during one year"), κατ’ ἐνιαυτόν ("annually" or "each year"), and μετὰ τὸν ἐνιαυτόν ("at the end of the year") (Il. 2.295, Xén. Vect. 4.33). The precise etymology remains uncertain, though it may relate to terms denoting spans of years, such as ἔνος (an old word for year) or the idea of recurring time spans (e.g., διετής for two years, τετραετής for four years).

(cf. ἐνιαυτός Bailly 2024)