πολύς

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Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús (much, many), o-grade derivative of the root *pleh₁- (to fill). Cognates include Latin plūs (more), Sanskrit पुरु (puru, much, many, abundant), Old Irish oll (great, vast), Old English feolo (much, many) and Old Armenian յոլով (yolov).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Adjective

πολῠ́ς (polúsm (feminine πολλή, neuter πολῠ́); first/second declension

  1. (of number, in the plural) many, a lot of
    1. (with nouns of multitude) large, great
    2. (of amount, with mass nouns) a lot of, much
    3. (rare, of a person) great, mighty
    4. (of sound) loud
    5. (attributively, adverbial) strongly, fully
    6. (of space) wide, large
    7. (of distance) far
    8. (of time) long; late
      πολὺν χρόνον
      polùn khrónon
      for a long time
  2. neuter πολύ (polú) or πολλά (pollá) as substantive
    1. much, a lot
      1. πολλοῦ ἄξιος (polloû áxios), πολλῶν ἄξιος (pollôn áxios): worth a lot, valuable
      2. περὶ πολλοῦ ποιέομαι (perì polloû poiéomai): to think something worth a great deal, value it greatly, be glad
        πολλὰ πιών καὶ πολλὰ φαγών καὶ πολλὰ κάκ᾿ εἰπὼν ἀνθρώπους κεῖμαι Τιμοκρέων Ῥόδιος
        After much drinking, much eating and much slandering of men I lie here, Timocreon of Rhodes.
        • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Murder of Eratosthenes 1:
          περὶ πολλοῦ ἂν ποιησαίμην, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὸ τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐμοὶ γενέσθαι
          perì polloû àn poiēsaímēn, ô ándres, tò toioútous humâs emoì [] genésthai
          I would be glad, gentlemen, to have you be this way
    2. (of distance) A great distance, far

Usage notes

Unlike in English, when πολύς (polús) is combined with another adjective, it is usually joined to the adjective with καί (kaí): πολλὰ καὶ κακά (pollà kaì kaká, many bad things, literally many and bad things).

The declension of πολύς (polús) is formed from two stems, πολ- (pol-) and πολλ- (poll-) < πολϝ- (polw-).

Declension

Antonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: poly-
  • French: poly-
  • Italian: poli-

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πολύς”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1220-1

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, many).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /poˈlis/
  • Hyphenation: πο‧λύς

Adjective

πολύς (polýsm (feminine πολλή, neuter πολύ)

  1. much, many, a lot of
    Αγόρασα πολύ λάδι.Agórasa polý ládi.I bought a lot of oil.
  2. too much
    Έβαλες πολλή ζάχαρη στον καφέ.Évales pollí záchari ston kafé.You put too much sugar in the coffee.

Declension