Lexical Definition

‎ἐλπίς‎ elpís (el-pece') hope ^G:N-F
from a primary (to anticipate, usually with pleasure)

faith, hope.

• expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence

Abbott-Smith

ἐλπίς (ἑλ-, Ro 8:20, WH, v. Bl., § 4, 3; M, Pr., 44), -ίδος, ἡ [in LXX for בָּטַח and its derivatives, תִּקְוָה (freq. in Jb), etc. ;]
expectation (in cl., rarely of evil, mostly of good, and so always in NT), hope;
1. of hope in general: II Co 1:6; c. gen. obj., Ac 16:19; art. inf., Ac 27:20, I Co 9:10; παρ’ ἐλπίδα, Ro 4:18; ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι, I Co 9:10.
2. Of religious hope: ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι, Ac 2:26 26:6, Ro 4:18 8:20, Tit 1:2; τῇ ἐ. ἐσώθημεν, Ro 8:24; κατ' ἐλπίδα ζωῆς αἰωνίου, Tit 3:7; of the Messianic hope of Israel, Ac 23:6 26:6, 7 28:20; of Christian hope, Ro 5:2, 4, 5 12:12 15:4, 13, I Co 13:13, II Th 2:16, He 3:6 6:11 7:19 10:23, I Pe 1:3, 21 3:15; c. gen. obj., Ro 5:2, Col 1:27, I Th 1:3 5:8, Tit 1:2; c. gen. of that on which the hope is based, Ac 26:6, Eph 1:18 4:4, Col 1:23; ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἐ., Ro 15:13; ἔχειν ἐ. (= cl. ἐλπίζειν), Ac 24:15, Ro 15:4, II Co 3:12 10:15, Eph 2:12, I Th 4:13; seq. ἐπί, c. dat., I Jo 3:3; εἰς, Ac 24:15; ὅτι, Ro 8:20, Phl 1:20, 21. Meton.,
(a) of the author or ground of hope (cl.): I Th 2:19, I Ti 1:1; c. gen. obj., Col 1:27;
(b) of the thing hoped for: Ga 5:5, Col 1:5, Tit 2:13, He 6:18 (Cremer, 252, 712).†

Abbott-Smith References

Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐλπίς-ίς, ίδος, ἡ,

(see. ἔλπω) hope, expectation (δόξα μελλόντων [ἐλπίςίδος αἶσα 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 16.101, 19.84; personified, 8th-7th c.BC: Hesiodus Epicus “Opera et Dies” 96: \_plural\_, 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “P.” 2.49, etc.">Refs 8th c.BC+]; πολλῶν ῥαγεισῶν ἐλπίςίδων after the wreck of many hopes, [ἐλπίςίδες, νέοι γάρ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Protagoras” 328d; κεναῖσιν ἐλπίςίσιν θερμαίνεται 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Ajax” 478 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; expectancy, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Constr., in _Attic dialect_, with _genitive_ both of subject and object, as (where both are conjoined) Πελοποννησίων τὴν ἐλπίςίδα τοῦ ναυτικοῦ the hope of the P.in their navy, [ἐλπίςίδες [prev. author] 3.14 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑμέτεραι ἐλπίςίδες,= ἐς ὑμᾶς, [Refs]; ἐλπίςίδ᾽ ἔχω, ={ἐλπίςίζω}, with future infinitive, μὴ οὐ δώσειν δίκην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with aorist infinitive, κλέος εὑρέσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+] and future infinitive, [ἐλπίςίδας ἔχω 1st c.BC: Dionysius Halicarnassensis 5.27 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν ἐλπίςίδι εἰμί, with future infinitive, [ἐλπίςίσι καλαῖς γενόμενος 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Brutus” 40 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐλπίςίς [ἐστί] μοι with accusative and future infinitive or aorist, ἐλπίςίς τις αὐτὸν ἥξειν [ἐλπίςίδος, τὸν ἄνδρα.. προσμεῖναι 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Oedipus Tyrannus” 836; πλείων ἐλπίςὶς φιλίαν ἢ ἔχθραν γενέσθαι 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Phaedrus” 232e ">Refs 5th c.BC+]: with present infinitive, [ἐλπίςίδα ἐλθεῖν τινος 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 2.56; ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίςίδας ἀφανεῖς καθίστασθαι [prev. author] 5.103; ἐλπίςίδα λαβεῖν 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 4.6.7 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐλπίςίδας μεγάλας ἔν τινι ἔχειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; τίν᾽ ὑπάγεις μ᾽ ἐς ἐλπίςίδ; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐλπίςίδας ἐμποιεῖν ἀνθρώποις, ὑποθεῖναί τισι, [ἐλπίςίδας μεγίστας παρέχεται ποιῆσαι 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Symposium” 193d ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐλπίςίδα or ἐλπίςίδας ὑπογράφειν, [ἐλπίςίδος [prev. author] 3.63.8, compare 3rd c.BC: Apollonius Rhodius Epicus 4.1272 ">Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἐκτὸς ἐλπίςίδος beyond hope, [ἐλπίςίδος πεσεῖν 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Agamemnon” 999 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; παρ᾽ ἐλπίςίδα[ἐλπίςίσιν 4th c.BC: Antiphanes Comicus 123.7; κάπτοντες αὔρας ἐλπίςίδας σιτούμενοι 4th c.BC: Eubulus Comicus 10.7; αἱ δ᾽ ἐλπίςίδες βόσκουσι τοὺς κενούς 4th-3rd c.BC: Menander Comicus “Μονόστιχοι - Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum” 42. ">Refs 5th c.BC+]

__2 object of hope, a hope, Ὀρέστης, ἐ. δόμων [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὑμεῖς, ἡ μόνη ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Εὔτυχος, ἡ γονέων ἐ. [Refs]
__3 reason to expect or believe, πολλὴ ἐ. κτήσασθαι, νοητὸν εἶναι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__II anxious thought on the future, boding, [Refs 5th c.BC+]