πλήν

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πλᾱ́ν (plā́n) — Doric

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to approach”). Cognate with πέλας (pélas), πλησίος (plēsíos), ἔμπλην (émplēn, “near, close by”) and many more in root page.

Compare the meaning and history of English besides.

Pronunciation

Preposition

πλήν • (plḗn) (governs the genitive)

1. except, save, besides
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 8.207
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 74
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 914
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 909
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.71
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.54
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 469C
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 2.4.27

Conjunction

πλήν • (plḗn)

1. except, save
   1. (with single words and phrases, especially when a negative precedes)
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 1238
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1161
      • 458 BCE, Euripides, Electra 752
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 414
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 125
      • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 646
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 737
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 529A
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 299
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 19
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1053
      • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 118
      • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 100
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 125
      • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 236
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 106
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.2.1
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 334B
      • 430 BCE, Euripides, Herakles' Children 231
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Minos 318E
      • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 179
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians 3.5
   2. (often joined with other particles)
      1. (with εἰ (ei))
         1. (followed by a verb)
            • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Apology 18D
            • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 177D
            • 349 BCE, Demosthenes, Third Olynthiac 18
            • 341 BCE, Demosthenes, Fourth Philippic 39
            • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 260
            • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 293
            • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 7.3.8
            • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 554B.2
         2. (with a verb omitted)
            • 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 601
            • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 4.2.21
            • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, The Statesman 286D
            • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption 323B.26
            • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On the Soul 406B
            • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 43A.39
            • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On the Causes of Plants 1.10.6
            • 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 4.74
            • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Soloecista 7
      2. (with ἤ (ḗ))
         • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 361
         • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 532
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.111
         • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Apology 42A
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 981A.18
      3. (with οὐ (ou)) only not
         • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hiero 1.18
         • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 45
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Dionysodorus 23
      4. (with ὅτι (hóti)) except that, save that
         • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 1429
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 4.189
         • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 183A
         • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 57B
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pelopidas 4
      5. (with ὅσον (hóson)) except or save so far as
         • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.32
         • 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 1.23
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 456A
         • 155 CE – 235 CE, Cassius Dio, Collected Works 72.19
         • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.88
         1. (without a verb expressed) save so far as
            • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 1509
            • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.23
            • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 670A
            • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 856D
            • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1124B.30
   3. (introducing a clause)
      • 425 BCE, Aristophanes, Lysistrata 5
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 41
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.8.20
      • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 1.18.2
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.32
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1643
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.70
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 328E
      1. (to break off and pass to another subject) only
         • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 1.69.14
         • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 2.17.1
         • 53 CE – 55 CE, Paul the Apostle, First Epistle to the Corinthians 11:11
         • 200 BCE – 100 BCE, Diogenes of Oenoanda, Oenoandan Inscription 8
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pericles 34
         • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Pyrrhus 5
         • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Prometheus 20
         • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 13.3
         • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 20.4
         • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, A Professor of Public Speaking 24
      2. (late prose)
         • 170 CE – 240 CE, Herodian, History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus 3.4.1
         • 200 CE – 400 CE, Heliodorus of Emesa, Aethiopica 6.7

Derived terms

• ἔμπλην (émplēn)

Descendants

• Greek: πλην (plin)

References

• “πλήν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πλήν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πλήν”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πλήν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πλήν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4133 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • beside idem, page 75.
  • beyond idem, page 77.
  • but idem, page 107.
  • except idem, page 288.
  • failing idem, page 301.
  • outside idem, page 583.
  • save idem, page 735.
  • short idem, page 768.
  • without idem, page 984.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN