πλευρά

• πλευρή (pleurḗ) — Ionic

Of uncertain origin. The traditional connections with πλάξ (pláx, “flat object, plate”) (< *plk-) and παλάμη (palámē, “palm”) (< *plh₂-em-eh₂-), via an unattested *πλῆ-ϝαρ (*plê-war), suggest a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). The semantics seem reasonable; however, the morphological formation is unclear.^[1]

An alternative theory, deriving the word from a Proto-Indo-European *pnew-reh₂, from *pnew- (“to breath”), would leave the lambdacism (ν (n) > λ (l)) unexplained (although compare πλεύμων (pleúmōn, “lung”)), in addition to being semantically farfetched (the "lung membrane" meaning appears to be a much later innovation in the English borrowing that was never present in Greek), particularly when compared to the connection with *pleh₂-. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

πλευρᾱ́ • (pleurā́) f (genitive πλευρᾶς); first declension

1. (anatomy, usually in the plural) A rib.

   Synonym: πλευρόν (pleurón)

   1. (usually in the plural) A side of a man or animal.
2. A side of things and places.
3. (geometry) A line that forms the side of a triangle or other two-dimensional figure.
   • 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Euclid, Elements 7.17
   1. A side of a rectangle; (mathematics) one factor of any product.
   2. A side of a square of a cube; (mathematics) a root of a square of a cubic number.
      • 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Euclid, Elements 8.17.11
   3. A generator of a cone or cylinder.

• πλευρόν (pleurón)
• πλευρῖτῐς (pleurîtis)
• πλευρῑτῐκός (pleurītikós)

• → Medieval Latin: pleura
  • → English: pleura
  • → French: pleura
  • → Italian: pleura
  • → Portuguese: pleura
  • → Spanish: pleura

• “πλευρά”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πλευρά”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• πλευρά in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πλευρά in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4125 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.
  • flank idem, page 325.
  • rib idem, page 712.
  • side idem, page 772.

From Ancient Greek πλευρά (pleurá).

πλευρά • (plevrá) f (plural πλευρές)

1. side (especially a surface or an area)

   στη δυτική πλευρά του κτιρίου

   sti dytikí plevrá tou ktiríou

   on the west side of the building

   η αίθουσα είχε δύο πλευρές με καθίσματα

   i aíthousa eíche dýo plevrés me kathísmata

   the room has two sides with seats

2. (mathematics) side

   Ένα τρίγωνο έχει τρεις κορυφές, τρεις πλευρές και τρεις γωνίες.

   Éna trígono échei treis koryfés, treis plevrés kai treis goníes.

   A triangle has three points, three sides and three angles.

3. side

   η δεξιά πλευρά του αυτοκινήτου

   i dexiá plevrá tou aftokinítou

   the right-hand side of the car

• αναλογία πλευρών f (analogía plevrón, “aspect ratio”)
• ανισόπλευρος (anisóplevros, “of unequal sides”, adjective)
• ισόπλευρος (isóplevros, “of equal sides, equilateral”, adjective)

πλευρά • (plevrá) n

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of πλευρό (plevró)