From G1909 (epi, upon) and G4155 (pnigo, to choke/strangle). To choke upon, press upon to the point of suffocation. Used in Jesus's Parable of the Sower for the thorns that choke the word and make it unfruitful.
In Luke 8:7, the seed that fell among thorns was epipnigo-ed โ choked out by competing growth. Jesus explains (Luke 8:14): 'that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.' The theological warning is sobering: the seed was real, the soil received it, growth began โ but rival commitments strangled it. Epipnigo describes not the failure to hear the gospel but the failure to protect it from competing loyalties. Many a genuine encounter with God's word has been suffocated by busyness.