πλέθρον
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Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
Etymology
Uncertain. Typically has been compared with the root of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “I fill up”) (< Proto-Indo-European *pípleh₁mi) (cf. πλήθω (plḗthō) and πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s) (< *pléh₁-dʰeh₁-) + -θρον (-thron), in which case it could be from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰrom, though long *ή (*ḗ) would be expected. However, the phonetic alternations in πέλεθρον (pélethron) and βλέθρον (bléthron) suggest a more complicated origin. According to Beekes, it is probably a loanword.
The word may be cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀤𐀩𐀴𐀍 (qe-re-ti-jo); if so, the original form must have begun with a labiovelar such as */kʷ/, rather than /p/ or /b/.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /plé.tʰron/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈple.tʰron/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈple.θron/
Noun
πλέθρον • (pléthron) n (genitive πλέθρου); second declension
- (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of length equal to 100 Greek feet (podes)
- (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of area equal to 10,000 square Greek feet (podes)
Inflection
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron |
τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō |
τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τοῦ πλέθρου toû pléthrou |
τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin |
τῶν πλέθρων tôn pléthrōn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῷ πλέθρῳ tôi pléthrōi |
τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin |
τοῖς πλέθροις toîs pléthrois | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron |
τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō |
τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra | ||||||||||
| Vocative | πλέθρον pléthron |
πλέθρω pléthrō |
πλέθρᾰ pléthra | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
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Derived terms
- πλεθριαῖος (plethriaîos)
Descendants
Further reading
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πλέθρον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1205–1206
- “πλέθρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- πλέθρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.