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Greek

To answer

ἀποκρίνωStrong’s G0611

apokrinō

Appears in 244 verses of the New Testament

In short

Apokrinō is the Greek word usually translated “answering”, “answered” and “answer you”. It appears in 244 verses of the New Testament.

“And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”
Matthew 3:15 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “answering”, “answered” and “answer you”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • answering 114
  • answered 89
  • he answered 9
  • they answered 8
  • answer you 4
  • to answer 2
  • will answer 2
  • he answering 2

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • John 78
  • Matthew 55
  • Luke 48
  • Mark 40
  • Acts 21
  • Colossians 1

7 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 244 verses, by book
Colossians 1
4:6
Revelation 1
7:13
Greek dictionary

ἀποκρίνω apokrinō · to answer

ἀποκρίνω, ἀποκρίνομαι, [in LXX chiefly for ענה ;] in cl., 1. to separate, distinguish. 2. to choose. Mid., to answer: Mat.27:12, Mrk.14:61, Luk.3:16 23:9, Jhn.5:17, 19 Act.3:12. In late Gk. the pass, also is used in this sense, and pass. forms are the more frequently in NT (M, Pr., 39, 161; MM, see word); (a) in general sense: absol., Mrk.12:34; with accusative of thing(s), Mat.22:46; with dative of person(s), Mat.12:38; before πρός, Act.25:16; (b) Hebraistically (i) like ענה, to begin to speak, take up the conversation (Kennedy, Sources, 124f.): Mat.11:25, al., …

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “answer” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

'ANSWER, verb transitive

ansur.

  1. To speak in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration or argument of another person; as, 'I have called and ye have not answered.' 'He answered the question or the argument.' This may be in agreement and confirmation of what was said, or in opposition to it.
  2. To be equivalent to; to be adequate to, or sufficient to accomplish the object. 'Money answereth all things, ' noting, primarily, return.
  3. To comply with, fulfill, pay or satisfy; as, he answered my order; to answer a debt.
  4. To act in return, or opposition; as, the enemy answered our fire by a shower of grape shot.
All definitions and other forms of “answer”
  1. To bear a due proportion to; to be equal or adequate; to suit; as, a weapon does not answer the size and strength of the man using it; the success does not answer our expectation.
  2. To perform what was intended; to accomplish; as, the measure does not answer its end; it does not answer the purpose.
  3. To be opposite to; to face; as, fire answers fire.
  4. To write in reply; to reply to another writing, by way of explanation, refutation or justification; as, to answer a pamphlet.
  5. To solve, as a proposition or problem in mathematics.

'ANSWER, verb intransitive

  1. To reply; to speak by way of return; as, there is none to answer 1 Kings 18:29
  2. To be accountable, liable or responsible; followed by to before the person, and for before the thing for which one is liable; as, the man must answer to his employer for the money entrusted to his care; we can not answer to God for our offenses.
  3. To vindicate, or give a justificatory account of; followed by for; as, a man cannot answer for his friend.
  4. To correspond with; to suit with; followed by to.“In water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man” Proverbs 27:19
  5. To act reciprocally, as the strings of an instrument to the hand.
  6. To stand as opposite or correlative; as, allegiance in the subject answers to protection on the part of the prince or government.
  7. To return, as sound reverberated; to echo.
  8. To succeed; to effect the object intended; to have a good effect; as, gypsum answers as a manure on a dry soil.

ANSWER, noun

  1. A reply; that which is said, in return to a call, a question, an argument or an allegation.“I called him, but he gave me no answer” Song of Solomon 5:6
  2. An account to be rendered to justice.
  3. In law, a counter-statement of facts, in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged.
  4. A writing, pamphlet or book, in reply to another.
  5. A reverberated sound; an echo.
  6. A return; that which is sent in consequence of some petition, as a blessing is sent in answer to prayer.
  7. A solution, the result of a mathematical operation.
  8. The reply of a legislative body or house to an address or message of the supreme magistrate.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.