πλέθρον
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word πλέθρον. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word πλέθρον, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say πλέθρον in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word πλέθρον you have here. The definition of the word πλέθρον will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofπλέθρον, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
Etymology
Uncertain. Typically has been compared with the root of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “I fill up”) (< Proto-Indo-European *pípleh₁mi) (cf. πλήθω (plḗthō) and πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s) (< *pléh₁-dʰeh₁-) + -θρον (-thron), in which case it could be from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰrom, though long *ή (*ḗ) would be expected. However, the phonetic alternations in πέλεθρον (pélethron) and βλέθρον (bléthron) suggest a more complicated origin. According to Beekes, it is probably a loanword.
The word may be cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀤𐀩𐀴𐀍 (qe-re-ti-jo); if so, the original form must have begun with a labiovelar such as */kʷ/, rather than /p/ or /b/.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /plé.tʰron/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈple.tʰron/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
Noun
πλέθρον • (pléthron) n (genitive πλέθρου); second declension
- (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of length equal to 100 Greek feet (podes)
- (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of area equal to 10,000 square Greek feet (podes)
Inflection
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron |
τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō |
τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τοῦ πλέθρου toû pléthrou |
τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin |
τῶν πλέθρων tôn pléthrōn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῷ πλέθρῳ tôi pléthrōi |
τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin |
τοῖς πλέθροις toîs pléthrois | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron |
τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō |
τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra | ||||||||||
| Vocative | πλέθρον pléthron |
πλέθρω pléthrō |
πλέθρᾰ pléthra | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Descendants
Further reading
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πλέθρον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1205–1206
- “πλέθρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- πλέθρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.