πολύς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πολλός (pollós) — Ionic
• πουλύς (poulús) — Epic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús (“much, many”), o-grade derivative of the root *pleh₁- (“to fill”). Cognates include Latin plūs (“more”), Sanskrit पुरु (puru, “much, many, abundant”), Old Irish oll (“great, vast”), Old English feolo (“much, many”) and Old Armenian յոլով (yolov).

Pronunciation

Adjective

πολῠ́ς • (polús) m (feminine πολλή, neuter πολῠ́); first/second declension

1. (of number, in the plural) many, a lot of
   1. (with nouns of multitude) large, great
   2. (of amount, with mass nouns) a lot of, much
   3. (rare, of a person) great, mighty
   4. (of sound) loud
   5. (attributively, adverbial) strongly, fully
   6. (of space) wide, large
   7. (of distance) far
   8. (of time) long; late

      πολὺν χρόνον

      polùn khrónon

      for a long time

      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.101.3:

        ἔτι πολλῆς νυκτός

        éti pollês nuktós

        though still late night

2. neuter πολύ (polú) or πολλά (pollá) as substantive
   1. much, a lot
      1. πολλοῦ ἄξιος (polloû áxios), πολλῶν ἄξιος (pollôn áxios): worth a lot, valuable
      2. περὶ πολλοῦ ποιέομαι (perì polloû poiéomai): to think something worth a great deal, value it greatly, be glad

         πολλὰ πιών καὶ πολλὰ φαγών καὶ πολλὰ κάκ᾿ εἰπὼν ἀνθρώπους κεῖμαι Τιμοκρέων Ῥόδιος

         After much drinking, much eating and much slandering of men I lie here, Timocreon of Rhodes.

         • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Murder of Eratosthenes 1:

           περὶ πολλοῦ ἂν ποιησαίμην, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὸ τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐμοὶ γενέσθαι

           perì polloû àn poiēsaímēn, ô ándres, tò toioútous humâs emoì […] genésthai

           I would be glad, gentlemen, to have you be this way

   2. (of distance) A great distance, far

Usage notes

Unlike in English, when πολύς (polús) is combined with another adjective, it is usually joined to the adjective with καί (kaí): πολλὰ καὶ κακά (pollà kaì kaká, “many bad things”, literally “many and bad things”).

The declension of πολύς (polús) is formed from two stems, πολ- (pol-) and πολλ- (poll-) < πολϝ- (polw-).

Declension

Antonyms

• ὀλίγος (olígos)

Derived terms

Related terms

• πλείων (pleíōn)
• πλεῖστος (pleîstos)

Descendants

• English: poly-
• French: poly-
• Italian: poli-

References

• “πολύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πολύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πολύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πολύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• πολύς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “πολύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G4183 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.
  • abundant idem, page 5.
  • affluent idem, page 17.
  • ample idem, page 28.
  • bitter idem, page 80.
  • considerable idem, page 163.
  • copious idem, page 173.
  • deal idem, page 198.
  • deep idem, page 203.
  • divers idem, page 243.
  • extensive idem, page 296.
  • flowing idem, page 330.
  • full idem, page 348.
  • generous idem, page 356.
  • great idem, page 372.
  • heavy idem, page 393.
  • highest idem, page 400.
  • huge idem, page 409.
  • immense idem, page 417.
  • large idem, page 476.
  • liberal idem, page 488.
  • long idem, page 498.
  • many idem, page 513.
  • much idem, page 545.
  • multitudinous idem, page 546.
  • numerous idem, page 563.
  • overflowing idem, page 585.
  • plentiful idem, page 620.
  • profuse idem, page 653.
  • quantity idem, page 663.
  • repeated idem, page 696.
  • rich idem, page 712.
  • stream idem, page 824.
  • strong idem, page 827.
  • teeming idem, page 859.
  • ungrudging idem, page 920.
  • unremitting idem, page 929.
  • unsparing idem, page 932.
  • various idem, page 944.
  • vast idem, page 945.
  • voluminous idem, page 956.
  • wealthy idem, page 970.

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /poˈlis/
• Hyphenation: πο‧λύς

Adjective

πολύς • (polýs) m (feminine πολλή, neuter πολύ)

1. much, many, a lot of

   Αγόρασα πολύ λάδι. ― Agórasa polý ládi. ― I bought a lot of oil.

2. too much

   Έβαλες πολλή ζάχαρη στον καφέ. ― Évales pollí záchari ston kafé. ― You put too much sugar in the coffee.

Declension

Related terms

• πολύ (polý, adverbial form)
• πολλάκις (pollákis, “often”) (formal)