ἐλαχύς

• ἔλαχος (élakhos)

From Proto-Hellenic *eləkʰús, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁léngʰus (“lightweight”).^[1]

Cognates include Sanskrit लघु (laghu), Latin levis, Old Church Slavonic льгъкъ (lĭgŭkŭ), Old English lēoht (English light).

ἐλᾰχῠ́ς • (elăkhŭ́s) m (feminine ἐλᾰ́χειᾰ, neuter ἐλᾰχῠ́); first/third declension

1. small, short, mean, little
   • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Apollo 197:

     τῇσι μὲν οὔτ’ αἰσχρὴ μεταμέλπεται οὔτ᾽ ἐλάχεια, ἀλλὰ μάλα μεγάλη τε ἰδεῖν καὶ εἶδος ἀγητή

     têisi mèn oút’ aiskhrḕ metamélpetai oút’ elákheia, allà mála megálē te ideîn kaì eîdos agētḗ

     And among them sings one, not mean nor puny, but tall to look upon and enviable in mien.

This is one of the two adjectives in -ύς, -εῖα, -ύ, along with λιγύς (ligús), that have a recessive accent in the feminine. See also θῆλυς (thêlus), ἥμισυς (hḗmisus).

• βαιός (baiós)
• βραχύς (brakhús)
• ἠβαιός (ēbaiós)
• μικρός (mikrós)
• ὀλίγος (olígos)
• παῦρος (paûros)
• τυτθός (tutthós)

• ἐλαχύνωτος (elakhúnōtos)
• ἐλαχυπτέρυξ (elakhuptérux)

• “ἐλαχύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐλαχύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐλαχύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐλαχύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐλαχύς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)