verb
dipsamō
Strong’sG1372
I thirst for, desire earnestly
stem dips-16 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books11 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Thirst, in the literal sense of needing something to drink 1234. This is the word's basic meaning, used simply on its own to describe being thirsty 1, and applied even to dry, parched ground or plants 3.
By extension, the word also means to thirst after something, i.e. to desire or crave it earnestly, as one craves water 1234. In this figurative use it can take a direct object, naming the thing longed for (such as righteousness), where classical usage would instead use a different grammatical case 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
διψάω,-ῶ
(< δίψα, thirst), [in LXX chiefly for צָמֵא;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1372 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddip-sah'-o
to thirst for (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom a variation of G1373;
King James(be, be a-)thirst(-y).
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
late Epic dialect διψ-ώω Refs 3rd c.AD+: Ionic dialect διψ-έω Refs 7th c.BC+; participle διψεῦσα Refs; contraction 3rd.pers. singular διψῇ Refs 5th c.BC+; infinitive διψῆν Refs 5th c.BC+: imperfect 3rd.pers. singular ἐδίψη Refs 5th c.BC+ only in later writers, LXX+5th c.BC+: future -ήσωRefs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐδίψησα Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect δεδίψηκα Refs 5th c.BC+ —middle (see. below):—thirst, στεῦτο δὲ διψάων [ᾱ] Refs 8th c.BC+; of the ground, to be thirsty, parched, Refs 7th c.BC+; of trees, Refs 4th c.BC+:—middle, διψώμεθα Refs 5th c.BC+
2 metaphorically, δ. τινός thirst after a thing, NT+5th c.BC+: with infinitive, διψῶ χαρίζεσθαι ὑμῖν Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| dipsamōΔιψῶ | happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular | thirsty | 1× |
| dipsanōδιψῶμεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | thirsty | 1× |
| dipsatiδιψήσει | will happen · he/she/itfuture active indicative 3rd person singular | thirsty | 3× |
| dipsaliδιψήσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | thirst | 1× |
| dipsamaἐδίψησα | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | thirsty | 2× |
| dipsameiōδιψῶ | happening now · Ipresent active subjunctive 1st person singular | thirsty | 1× |
| dipsateiōδιψᾷ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular | thirsty | 2× |
| dipsarōntosδιψῶν | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | thirsty | 1× |
| dipsarōntonδιψῶντα | happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative singular masculine | thirsty | 2× |
| dipsarōntoδιψῶντι | happening now · to, forpresent active participle dative singular masculine | thirsty | 1× |
| dipsarōntoisδιψῶντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | thirst | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 8 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | dipsamō1×Διψῶ | dipsame | dipsami | dipsama2×ἐδίψησα | dipsamē | dipsamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | dipsasō | dipsase | dipsasi | dipsasa | dipsasē | dipsaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | dipsatō | dipsate | dipsati3×διψήσει | dipsata | dipsatē | dipsatelē |
| we 1st person plural | dipsanō1×διψῶμεν | dipsane | dipsani | dipsana | dipsanē | dipsanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | dipsavō | dipsave | dipsavi | dipsava | dipsavē | dipsavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | dipsalō | dipsale | dipsali1×διψήσουσιν | dipsala | dipsalē | dipsalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | dipsameiō1×διψῶ | dipsameia | dipsameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | dipsaseiō | dipsaseia | dipsaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | dipsateiō2×διψᾷ | dipsateia | dipsateiē |
| we 1st person plural | dipsaneiō | dipsaneia | dipsaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | dipsaveiō | dipsaveia | dipsaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | dipsaleiō | dipsaleia | dipsaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | dipsasōr | dipsasar | dipsasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | dipsatōr | dipsatar | dipsatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | dipsavōr | dipsavar | dipsavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | dipsalōr | dipsalar | dipsalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | dipsamoiō | dipsamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | dipsasoiō | dipsasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | dipsatoiō | dipsatoia |
| we 1st person plural | dipsanoiō | dipsanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | dipsavoiō | dipsavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | dipsaloiō | dipsaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | dipsarō | dipsari | dipsara | dipsarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 5 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | dipsarōntos5×διψῶν | dipsarintos | dipsarantos | dipsarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
dips is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
dipsamō“thirsty”happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular1×
John 19:28… telotē hina teleiiteia tas grafas legatō; Dipsamō.… the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
dipsanō“thirsty”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
1 Corinthians 4:11… tau arti hōrau kai peinanō kai dipsanō kai gumniteuanō kai kolafizonō kai astatanō… very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are …
dipsati“thirsty”will happen · he/she/itfuture active indicative 3rd person singular3×
John 4:13… tos pinarōntos ek teu hudeu houteu dipsati palin;… who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
John 4:14“thirsty”… heu mis dōami auto, ouk mē dipsati eis ton aiōnon, alla tem hudem …… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become …
John 6:35… tos pisteuarōntos eis min ouk mē dipsati pōpote.… whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
dipsali“thirst”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Revelation 7:16ouk peinali ēti oude dipsali ēti, oude mē piptateia epi autoin …… they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down …
dipsama“thirsty”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular2×
Matthew 25:35peinama gar kai dōava mi esthiara, dipsama kai potizava min, xenos ome kai …… Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to …
Matthew 25:42… gar kai ouk dōava mi esthiara, dipsama kai ouk potizava min,… Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to …
dipsameiō“thirsty”happening now · Ipresent active subjunctive 1st person singular1×
John 4:15… mi houtem tem hudem, hina mē dipsameiō mēde dierchomeiō enthade antlarō.… so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here …
dipsateiō“thirsty”happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular2×
John 7:37… Iēsus, kai krazata legarōntos; Ean tinos dipsateiō erchotōr pros min kai pinatōr.… a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and …
Romans 12:20… tos echthros su, psōmizasōr auton; ean dipsateiō, potizasōr auton; houtem gar poiarōntos anthrakoin …… hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in …
dipsarōntos“thirsty”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Revelation 22:17… tos akouarōntos legatar; Erchosōr; kai tos dipsarōntos erchotōr, tos thelarōntos labatar hudem zōau …… And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires …
dipsarōnton“thirsty”happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative singular masculine2×
Matthew 25:37… sin horana peinarōnton kai trefana, ē dipsarōnton kai potizana?… You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
Matthew 25:44… Kurior, pote sin horana peinarōnton ē dipsarōnton ē xenon ē gumnon ē asthenon …… did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or …
dipsarōnto“thirsty”happening now · to, forpresent active participle dative singular masculine1×
Revelation 21:6… archas kai tem telem. mis to dipsarōnto dōami ek tau pēgau teu hudeu …… Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the …
dipsarōntois“thirst”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Matthew 5:6makariois tois peinarōntois kai dipsarōntois tan dikaiosunan, hoti autois chortazili.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be …