πρόφᾰσ-ις, εως, ἡ,
(προφαίνω) motive or cause alleged, whether truly or falsely: then, actual motive or cause, whether alleged or not:
__I alleged motive, plea, without implication of truth or falsity, ἐπὶ σμικρῇ π. [[ 6th c.BC: Theognis Elegiacus 323; νόστου π. γλυκεροῦ κώλυεν μεῖναι 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “P.” 4.32; κατὰ θεωρίης πρόφασιν ἐκπλώσας 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.29; π. ἔχων, ὡς.. [prev. author] 6.133 ] Refs 6th c.BC+]; καὶ ἐπὶ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐπὶ βραχείᾳ π. whether the plea put forward be a trifle or a weighty matter, [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 1.141 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῆς αἰτίας τὴν π. the plea in the case, the basis of the charge, [[ 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 9.7 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοιαύτας ἔχοντες π. καὶ αἰτίας pleas and motives, [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 3.13 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἐπιεικής[[ [prev. work] 9; ἀναγκαῖαι 4th c.BC: Isaeus Orator 4.20, 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator 54.17 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]; προφάσεις ἀληθεῖς λέγοντος pleading what was in fact true, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Andocides Orator 4.17. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__I.2 falsely alleged motive (or cause), pretext, pretence, excuse, π. ἰδίης ἀβουλίης an excuse for.., [[ 3rd c.AD: Democritus Epigrammaticus 119; οὔτε τιν᾽ ἔχων π. οὔτε λόγον εὐτράπελον 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Vespae” 468 (Lyric poetry); καλλίστην εἶναι π., τιμωρεῖσθαι μὲν δοκεῖν, ἔργῳ δὲ χρηματίζεσθαι 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 12.6: _absolutely_ in _accusative_, πρόφασιν] Refs 5th c.BC+] in pretence, ostensibly, στενάχοντο γυναῖκες Πάτροκλον π., σφῶν δ᾽ αὐτῶν κήδε᾽ ἑκάστη [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 19.302, compare 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.33, 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Iphigenia Aulidensis” 362 (troch.), 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Equites” 466, etc.] Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to τὸ ἀληθές, [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 6.33: in _dative_, προφάσει [prev. author] 3.86 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; προφάσει τῶν δημοσίων on the pretence that public debts are owing, [[ “OGI” 669.15 (Egypt, 1st c.AD)] Refs 1st c.AD+]; προφάσιος [εἵνεκεν], προφάσεως ἕνεκα, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 4.135, 5th c.BC: Antipho Orator 6.14; προφάσεως χάριν 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Politica” 1297a14 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐκ μικρᾶς π. [[ 2nd c.BC: Polybius Historicus 2.17.3; ἐπὶ προφάσιος 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 7.150: followed by an ] Refs 5th c.BC+]infinitive, αὕτη γὰρ ἦν σοι π. ἐκβαλεῖν ἐμέ for casting me out, [[ 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Philoctetes” 1034; οὔτε.. ἔστιν οὐδεμία π. τοῦ μὴ δρᾶν 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Timaeus” 20c ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. τοῖς δειλοῖς ἔχει μὴ ἰέναι gives them an excuse or plea for not going, [[ [prev. author] “R.” 469c; οὐδεμία σοι π. ἐστιν ὡς.. 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 2.2.15 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὑρὼν π. [[ “BGU” 1024 vi 21 (4th c.AD). ] Refs 4th c.AD+]