The headword is the third person plural, aorist indicative active, of ἀβακέω . This form is found only in Homer, Odyssey 4.249 (web address 1), and the many lexicographical notices generated by it. Of those the most similar to this entry are Photius Lexicon alpha22, and Etymologicum Magnum 2.30-31. Cf. also Apollonios Sophistes Lexicon Homericum 2.16; Hesychius alpha54. The glosses offered here and elsewhere probably represent semantic extrapolation from the Homeric context: When Odysseus comes in disguise to Troy, Helen knows who he is but the rest of the people in Troy ἀβάκησαν . The translation of the headword, on the other hand, reflects the verb's probable etymological connection to the verb βάζω 'speak', and the adjective ἀβακής ('speechless', 'tranquil'). Cf. Chantraine s.v. ἀβακής , a connection that is sometimes mentioned as a possibility in the ancient scholarship.