you can't step in the same river twice in English

Audio: En-au-you can't step in the same river twice.ogg

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Etymology: Direct translation from Heraclitus, "δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης." Etymology templates: {{lang|grc|δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.}} δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης. Head templates: {{en-proverb}} you can't step in the same river twice

[Show JSON for postprocessed kaikki.org data shown on this page ▼] [Hide JSON for postprocessed kaikki.org data shown on this page ▲]

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης."
      },
      "expansion": "δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.",
      "name": "lang"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Direct translation from Heraclitus, \"δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "you can't step in the same river twice",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "It is not possible to repeat past experiences, as time changes all things."
      ],
      "id": "en-you_can't_step_in_the_same_river_twice-en-proverb-8fJTIswc",
      "links": [
        [
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          "repeat"
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        [
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        ],
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          "time"
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          "change",
          "change"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) It is not possible to repeat past experiences, as time changes all things."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "you can't go home again"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
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      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-you can't step in the same river twice.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/En-au-you_can%27t_step_in_the_same_river_twice.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "you can't step in the same river twice"
}

[Show JSON for raw wiktextract data ▼] [Hide JSON for raw wiktextract data ▲]

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης."
      },
      "expansion": "δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.",
      "name": "lang"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Direct translation from Heraclitus, \"δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "you can't step in the same river twice",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "you can't go home again"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "It is not possible to repeat past experiences, as time changes all things."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "repeat",
          "repeat"
        ],
        [
          "experience",
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        ],
        [
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          "time"
        ],
        [
          "change",
          "change"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) It is not possible to repeat past experiences, as time changes all things."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Heraclitus"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-you can't step in the same river twice.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/En-au-you_can%27t_step_in_the_same_river_twice.ogg/En-au-you_can%27t_step_in_the_same_river_twice.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/En-au-you_can%27t_step_in_the_same_river_twice.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "you can't step in the same river twice"
}

Download raw JSONL data for you can't step in the same river twice meaning in English (1.6kB)

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (5ee713e and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.

"you can't step in the same river twice" meaning in English

Proverb