Quick Definition
αὐτόφωρος, ον Adj in the very act
Strong's Definition
from 1909 and 846 and (the dative case singular of) a derivative of phor (a thief); in theft itself, i.e. (by analogy) in actual crime
KJV Usage: in the very act
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
adjc. | -ον | αὐτός + φώρ
42.14 · Perform, Do · Do, Perform
in the act, in the very activity pertaining to the very act of doing something
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
αὐτόφωρος, -ov, (αὐτός and dap a thief, φωρά a theft), [fr. Soph. down]; prop. caught in the act of theft; then univ. caught in the act of perpetrating any other crime; very often in the phrases ἐπ᾿ αὐτοφώρῳ (as one word ἐπαυτοφώρῳ) τινὰ λαμβάνειν, pass. λαμβάνεσθαι, καταλαμβάνεσθαι, ἁλίσκεσθαι, (fr. Hdt. 6, 72 on), the crime being specified by a participle: μοιχευομένη, Jn. viii. 4 [ἢ G], asin Ael. nat. an. 11,15; Plut. mor. vi. p. 446 ed. Tauchn. [x. p. 723 ed. Reiske, cf. Nicias 4, 5; Eumen. 2, 2]; Sext. Empir. ady. Rhet. 65 [p. 151 ed. Fabric. ].
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** αὐτόφωρος, -ον
(< αὐτός, φώρ, a thief), [in Sm.: Jb 34:11*;]
prop. with ref. to theft, then generally, in the very act: as freq., neut. dat. after ἐπί, Jo 8:4 (Rec., ἐπαυτοφώρῳ).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
αὐτόφωρος. BGU II. 3γ21. 11 (a.p. 154) (= Chrest. I. 19) το[ὺς] λημφθέντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτ[ο]φίώρ]ῳ κακούργους.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ἐπαυτόφωρος, αὐτόφωρος (epautophōros, autophōros) — in the very act. Related to: αὐτό-φωρος, ον, (φώρ) self-detected, ἀμπλακήματα[Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. mostly in the phrase ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ λαμβάνειν to catch in the act, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. in a more general sense, notoriously, manifestly, ἐπιβουλεύοντας φανῆναι ἐπ᾽ αὐ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]