πρέσβυς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πρεῖγυς (preîgus) — Cretan

Etymology

Originally "one who leads cattle" from Proto-Indo-European *pres (“before”), extended form of *per-, + *gʷṓws (“cattle”). Compare Sanskrit पुरोगव (purogava, “leader”), from पुरस् (puras, “in front”) and गव (gava, “cow, cattle”). But Beekes (1232) discusses several other proposed etymologies.

Pronunciation

Adjective

πρέσβῠς • (présbus) m (feminine πρέσβειᾰ, neuter πρέσβῠ); first/third declension

1. elderly, aged
   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 941
   • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 665

Declension

Noun

πρέσβῠς • (présbus) m (genitive πρέσβεως); third declension

1. old man
2. elder, chief, prince
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 184,205,530
3. (superlative) revered, honored
4. ambassador
   • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 728
5. (at Sparta) a political title, higher than γέρων (gérōn, “senator”): chief, president
   • Inscriptiones Laconiae 1237, 1326
6. a name of the τρόχιλος (trókhilos, “wren”)
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 9.11,5
7. a type of daw or chough
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 9.1,15

Usage notes

For the feminine, see πρέσβᾰ (présba), πρέσβειρᾰ (présbeira), πρεσβηῐ́ς (presbēís).

Inflection

Synonyms

• (ambassador): πρεσβευτής (presbeutḗs)

Derived terms

• πρεσβεία (presbeía)
• πρεσβεῖον (presbeîon)
• πρεσβεύω (presbeúō)

Further reading

• “πρέσβυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πρέσβυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πρέσβυς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πρέσβυς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πρέσβυς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “πρέσβυς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G4245 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.
  • ambassador idem, page 26.
  • commissioner idem, page 148.
  • deputy idem, page 213.
  • envoy idem, page 279.
  • legate idem, page 484.
  • old man idem, page 572.
• πρέσβυς - ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ (since 2011) Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch) University of Chicago.

Greek

Noun

πρέσβυς • (présvys) m (plural πρέσβεις, feminine πρέσβειρα)

1. Katharevousa form of πρέσβης (présvis, “ambassador”)

Related terms

• see: πρέσβης m (présvis, “ambassador”)