STEP Liddell–Scott–Jones: οὐ

οὐ,

the negative of fact and statement, as μή of will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective. —The same differences hold for all compounds of οὐ and μή, and some examples of οὐδέ and οὐδείς are included below.—As to the Form, see infr. G. USAG[[ 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus ] Refs 5th c.BC+]

__I as the negative of single words,

__II as the negative of the sentence.

__I οὐ adhering to single words so as to form a quasi-compound with them:—with Verbs: οὐ δίδωμι withhold, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 24.296 ] Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐκ εἰῶ prevent, [[ 2.132, 4.55, +others] Refs]; οὐκ ἐθέλω refuse, [[ 1.112, 3.289, +others] Refs]; οὔ φημι deny, [[ 7.393, 23.668, +others (In most of these uses μή can replace οὐ when the _construction_ requires it, e.g. εἰ μή φησι ταῦτα ἀληθῆ εἶναι 4th c.BC: Lycurgus Orator 34 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]; but sometimes οὐ is retained, εἰ δ᾽ ἂν.. οὐκ ἐθέλωσιν [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 3.289; εἰ δέ κ᾽.. ου᾽κ εἰῶσι 20.139; ἐὰν οὐ φάσκῃ 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 13.76 ] Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐάντε.. οὐ (variant{μή}) φῆτε ἐάντε φῆτε [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Apologia” 25b):—with Participles: οὐκ ἐθέλων 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 4.224, 300, 6.165, etc.:— with Adjectives: οὐκ ἀέκοντε 5.366, 768, +others; οὐ πολλήν 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 6.7, etc.:— with Adverbs: οὐχ ἥκιστα [prev. author] 1.68, etc.: rarely with Verbal Nouns (see. below 11.10).] Refs 8th c.BC+] —On the use of οὐ in contrasts, see below [[ 5th c.BC: Bacchylides Lyricus ] Refs 5th c.BC+]