καταπλέω
katapléō
G2668 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To sail down toward a location, especially to reach land by boat, to land or arrive by ship. The core sense is one of coming down by sea to a shore or harbor, with emphasis on the action of arrival at a specific destination from a voyage. Extended by context, it can simply mean to arrive or put in at port from the sea.
Semantic Range
to sail down (to a place), to arrive by ship, to put in at port, to land (after a sea voyage), to reach land from a sea journey
Root / Etymology
From the prefix κατα- (down, according to, toward) and πλέω (to sail, to travel by ship), forming a compound that literally denotes 'to sail down' (to a coastal destination or harbor).
Historical & Contextual Notes
In classical and Hellenistic Greek, καταπλέω primarily described maritime movement, particularly the process of sailing down from open sea toward the coastline—a common perspective in Greek navigation, where 'down' often refers to moving from higher (offshore) to lower (shoreline) territory. In the Septuagint and New Testament, the term appears in the context of arriving at a city or port via sea, as in Acts 18:21, emphasizing the moment of landfall or disembarkation. English translations may use 'land at', 'put in at', or 'arrive (by ship)', but these do not fully convey the maritime nuance of descent from sea to land inherent in the Greek. The term rarely carries metaphorical senses and is not used for non-maritime arrivals. It is distinct from ἀποπλέω ('to sail away'), which describes departure rather than arrival, and from ἐπιδημέω ('to stay or sojourn'), which focuses on being resident rather than the manner of coming.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from κατά and πλέω; to sail down upon a place, i.e. to land at:--arrive.
Root Family
καταπλε- (katapléō) — to sail, to travel by ship, to come down
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G2668-01 |
κατέπλευσαν | katepleusan | V AOR ACT IND 3P PL |
they arrived | they sailed down to land | they sailed to land | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G2668-01 |
Luke 8:26 | κατέπλευσαν | katepleusan | V AOR ACT IND 3P PL |
they arrived | they sailed down to land | they sailed to land |