πλήσσω

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πλήττω (plḗttō) — Attic
• πλᾱ́σσω (plā́ssō) — Laconian, Doric

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *plā́ťťō, from Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂kyeti, from *pleh₂k-, *pleh₂g- (“to strike”).

Cognate with πλᾱ́ζω (plā́zō, “to strike”) (with *-g-), Latin plangō, plēctō, plāga; Old Church Slavonic плакати (plakati), Dutch vloeken.

Pronunciation

Verb

πλήσσω • (plḗssō)

1. to strike, smite
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1343
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 608
   • 408 BCE, Euripides, Orestes 497
   • 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 934
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.14
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 422
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 855
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.266
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.362
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.147
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.455
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 11.240
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 12.192
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 16.791
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.660
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.431
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 8.264
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 10.162
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 12.412
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 18.57
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.50
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 22.20
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 329a
   1. (with accusative) to strike an object into motion
      • 310 BCE – 240 BCE, Callimachus, Aetia 3.1.37
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.504
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 10.71
   2. to stamp
      • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 283
   3. to sting
2. (figuratively, passive voice) to be stricken, defeated
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 31
   • 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 1015
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 896
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.41
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.120
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.130
   • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 819
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.108
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.38
   1. to be emotionally stricken
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 544
      • 300 CE – 500 CE, Hermesianax, Collected Works 7.42
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.5
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 218a
   2. (active voice, of wine) to overpower
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 15.672
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 18.568
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.72
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 2.59

Inflection

Derived terms

Related terms

References

• “πλήσσω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πλήσσω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πλήσσω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πλήσσω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πλήσσω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4141 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible