ἄπειρος

Ancient Greek

Etymology 1

From ἀ- (a-, “not”) +‎ πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt”). Compare with Latin peritus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

ᾰ̓́πειρος • (ápeiros) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓́πειρον); second declension

1. without trial or experience, not used to, ignorant of, unacquainted with
   • 6th century BC, Theognis of Megara, Elegies 1007
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Isthmian Ode 8.154
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.92.1
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.1
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.58
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 371
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Fragments 281
   • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 1250
   • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Collected Works 111.34
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, 1 141
   • 400 BCE – 387 BCE, Plato, Apology 26D
   • 484 BCE – 425 BCE, Herodotus, 2 111
   • 431 BCE, Euripides, Medea 672
   1. (absolute) inexperienced, ignorant
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Isthmian Ode 8.106

Inflection

Synonyms

• ἀπείρητος (apeírētos)

Etymology 2

From ἀ- (a-, “not”) +‎ πεῖραρ (peîrar), πέρας (péras, “end, limit”).

Alternative forms

• ᾰ̓πείρων (apeírōn)
• ᾰ̓πειρέσῐος (apeirésios)

Pronunciation

Adjective

ᾰ̓́πειρος • (ápeiros) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓́πειρον); second declension

1. boundless, unlimited, infinite
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Fragments 95.8
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Fragments 935
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Parmenides 144A
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 525A
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 910B
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 3.4.9
   1. (in Tragedy, often of garments) in which one is entangled past escape, endless, without outlet
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1382
      • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Fragments 473
      • 408 BCE, Euripides, Orestes 25
   2. endless, circular
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 3.6.10

Inflection

Descendants

• Greek: άπειρος (ápeiros), άπειρο (ápeiro)
• English: apeiro-

Etymology 3

See ἤπειρος (ḗpeiros).

Pronunciation

Noun

ᾱ̓́πειρος • (ā́peiros) m (genitive ᾱ̓πείρου); second declension

1. Doric form of ἤπειρος (ḗpeiros)

Declension

References

• “ἄπειρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄπειρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἄπειρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄπειρος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἄπειρος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G552 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.
  • beginner idem, page 71.
  • blind idem, page 83.
  • boundless idem, page 91.
  • clumsy idem, page 140.
  • endless idem, page 273.
  • ignorant idem, page 414.
  • illimitable idem, page 416.
  • immeasurable idem, page 417.
  • incalculable idem, page 427.
  • inexperienced idem, page 436.
  • inextricable idem, page 436.
  • infinite idem, page 438.
  • interminable idem, page 451.
  • limitless idem, page 492.
  • measureless idem, page 521.
  • new idem, page 556.
  • novice idem, page 562.
  • raw idem, page 674.
  • recruit idem, page 684.
  • rude idem, page 724.
  • stranger idem, page 823.
  • tyro idem, page 905.
  • unaccustomed idem, page 906.
  • unacquainted idem, page 906.
  • unbounded idem, page 908.
  • unending idem, page 916.
  • unfamiliar idem, page 917.
  • unfathomable idem, page 918.
  • uninitiated idem, page 922.
  • unknowing idem, page 923.
  • unlimited idem, page 924.
  • unmeasured idem, page 925.
  • unpractised idem, page 927.
  • unskilful idem, page 932.
  • unskilled idem, page 932.
  • untrained idem, page 935.
  • untried idem, page 935.
  • untutored idem, page 935.
  • unused idem, page 935.
  • unversed in idem, page 936.
• ἄπειρος - ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ (since 2011) Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch) University of Chicago.