τέλειος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• τέλεος (téleos)

Etymology

From τέλος (télos, “end”) +‎ -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix). Related to, and largely synonymous with, τελήεις (telḗeis).

Pronunciation

Adjective

τέλειος • (téleios) m (feminine τελείᾱ, neuter τέλειον); first/second declension

τέλειος • (téleios) m or f (neuter τέλειον); second declension

1. having reached its end, finished
   1. (of victims) complete, perfect, entire, without blemish
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.66
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.34
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.47
      • 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, On the Mysteries 97
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Neaera 60
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 249C
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.247
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.315
   2. (of animals and humans) full-grown, adult
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1504
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.183
      • 5th century BC, Pherecrates, Collected Works 44
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 7.677
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 834C
      • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Timon 50
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 929C
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.2.4
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.2.12–14
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.10
   3. (of persons) absolute, complete, accomplished, perfect
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 32
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 403E
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 269E
      • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 30D
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 647D
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 678B
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 9
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Letters 4.3
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 15.60
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.4
      1. (of things)
         • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Critias 106B
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1129B.30
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1156B.34
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 271A.1
         • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.169
         • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Prorrhetics 2.30
         • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 16.500
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 348B
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 344A
   4. (of statues) life-sized
      • ICret II 3, 4 C, ll. 7-8
   5. (of prayers, vows, etc.) fulfilled, accomplished
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Fragments 122.15
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.89
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 832
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1432
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 353
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.121
      • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 526
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 443B
   6. (of numbers) full, complete
      • 425 BCE, Aristophanes, Lysistrata 104
      • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 39D
      1. (in arithmetic) those numbers which are equal to the sum of their divisors
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 546B
         • 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Euclid, Elements 7
         • 50 CE – 150 CE, Theon of Smyrna, On Mathematics Useful for the Understanding of Plato 45
         • 60 CE – 120 CE, Nicomachus, Introduction to Arithmetic 1.16
         • c. 245 CE – c. 325 CE, Iamblichus Chalcidensis, Theological principles of arithmetic 58
   7. the third bowl offered to Zeus
      • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, Fragments 526
      • 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Fragments 148
2. (of the gods) perfect, omnipotent, infinite
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 973
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 13.115
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 1.67
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 28
   • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 526
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 10.18
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 214
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Fragments 383
   • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 973
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 25.22
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 382
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 167
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 972
3. last
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 948
4. (neuter substantive) a royal banquet
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.110
5. (feminine substantive) a full stop, period
   • 170 BCE – 90 BCE, Dionysius Thrax, Art of Grammar 630.6
6. (adverb) at last
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 320
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 953
   1. completely, absolutely
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.120
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 329
      • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Euphiletus 4
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Symposium 2.2
      • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 182C
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.286
      • 485 BCE – 380 BCE, Gorgias, Encomium of Helen 18
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Against the Sophists 18
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Definitions 411D
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1021B.26
      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Judith 11.6
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 16.639
   2. (the neuter is also used as an adverb)
      • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, On Salaried Posts in Great Houses 5
      • 95 CE – 165 CE, Appian, Civil Wars 1.8
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 2.56

Inflection

Derived terms

• τελειόω (teleióō)

Further reading

• “τέλειος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τέλειος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “τέλειος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• τέλειος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• τέλειος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “τέλειος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G5046 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.
  • absolute idem, page 4.
  • accomplished idem, page 6.
  • complete idem, page 152.
  • comprehensive idem, page 153.
  • consummate idem, page 166.
  • entire idem, page 277.
  • faultless idem, page 311.
  • final idem, page 320.
  • finished idem, page 321.
  • flawless idem, page 326.
  • fulfilled idem, page 348.
  • full idem, page 348.
  • ideal idem, page 413.
  • mature idem, page 518.
  • perfect idem, page 607.
  • ripe idem, page 716.
  • thorough idem, page 868.

Greek

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/
• Hyphenation: τέ‧λει‧ος

Adjective

τέλειος • (téleios) m (feminine τέλεια, neuter τέλειο)

1. perfect, ideal, complete

Declension

Related terms