ἐπισχεῖν (epischein)

ἐπισχεῖν is an Ancient Greek form of ἐπώχατο, meaning “were shut (Homeric form of ἐπέχω)”.

It can also be a form of ἐπίσχω, “hold back; direct”. It is the present active infinitive.

Found 120 times in the Ancient Greek texts on Socratos.

Where it is used

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.90.3: … ὡς τάχιστα ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα, ἄλλους δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτῷ ἑλομένους πρέσβεις μὴ εὐθὺς ἐκπέμπειν, ἀλλ’ ἐπισχεῖν μέχρι τοσούτου ἕως ἂν τὸ τεῖχος ἱκανὸν ἄρωσιν ὥστε ἀπομάχεσθαι ἐκ τοῦ ἀναγκαιοτάτου ὕψους· τειχίζειν δὲ πάντα …

Aretaeus of Cappadocia, De causis et signis diuturnorum morborum libri duo 2.5: … ηδὲς μέσφι ἀκοῆς. ἢν γὰρ ἀκρασίη καὶ πάρεσις τὰ ὑγρὰ ἴσχῃ καὶ γόνιμα μέρεα, ὅκως διʼ ἀψύχων Ῥέει ἡ θορὴ, οὐδὲ ἐπίσχειν αὐτέην ἐστὶ οὐδὲ ἐν ὕπνοισι. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἢν τε εὕδῃ, ἤν τε ἐγρηγορέῃ, ἀνεπίσχετος ἡ φορὴ, ἀναίσθητος δὲ ἡ Ῥοὴ το …

Aretaeus of Cappadocia, De curatione acutorum morborum libri duo 1.11·2: … ωσαν δὲ καὶ οἵδε ἁπλοῖ ξὺν μέλιτι μοῦνον. ἀγαθοὶ δὲ καὶ τράγοι. κακίων δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν ὄρυζα ξηρῆναι, τρηχῆνα ι, ἐπίσχεῖν κάθαρσιν πλευρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ οὐρῆσαι· ἄριστος δὲ καὶ ἄρτος ξηρὸς κοπεὶς, κρησέρῃ σεσησμένος , εὔκρητος, εὔπεπτος …

Source: Socratos (socratos.org), a free reader for Ancient Greek and Latin. Grammar from the Perseus Treebank and Morpheus; dictionary entries from Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA). Counts are from the texts on Socratos.