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ὄλεθρος. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ὄλεθρος, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ὄλεθρος in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ὄλεθρος you have here. The definition of the word
ὄλεθρος will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ὄλεθρος, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Ancient Greek
Etymology
From Proto-Hellenic *óletʰros, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁dʰros, from *h₃elh₁- (“to destroy”). Cognate with ὄλλῡμῐ (óllūmi).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ó.le.tʰros/ → /ˈo.le.θros/ → /ˈo.le.θros/
Noun
ὄλεθρος • (ólethros) m (genitive ὀλέθρου); second declension
- ruin, destruction, death, bane
800 BCE – 600 BCE,
Homer,
Odyssey 1.1–12:
- ἔνθ’ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες, ὅσοι φύγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον,
οἴκοι ἔσαν, πόλεμόν τε πεφευγότες ἠδὲ θάλασσαν·- énth’ álloi mèn pántes, hósoi phúgon aipùn ólethron,
oíkoi ésan, pólemón te pepheugótes ēdè thálassan; - then all the others, who had fled headlong destruction,
were at home, having escaped war and the sea
- causing destruction: pest, plague
750 BCE – 650 BCE,
Hesiod,
Theogony 326–327:
- ἣ δ’ ἄρα Φῖκ’ ὀλοὴν τέκε Καδμείοισιν ὄλεθρον
Ὅρθῳ ὑποδμηθεῖσα Νεμειαῖόν τε λέοντα- hḕ d’ ára Phîk’ oloḕn téke Kadmeíoisin ólethron
Hórthōi hupodmētheîsa Nemeiaîón te léonta - But then she, subdued by Orthus, gave birth to the ruinous Sphinx, a plague to the Cadmeans, and the Nemean lion
- As a contemptuous name applied to a person.
425 BCE,
Aristophanes,
Lysistrata 325:
- πέτου πέτου Νικοδίκη,
πρὶν ἐμπεπρῆσθαι Καλύκην
τε καὶ Κρίτυλλαν περιφυσήτω
ὑπό τε νόμων ἀργαλέων
ὑπό τε γερόντων ὀλέθρων.- pétou pétou Nikodíkē,
prìn empeprêsthai Kalúkēn
te kaì Krítullan periphusḗtō
hupó te nómōn argaléōn
hupó te geróntōn oléthrōn.
- 1912 translation by The Athenian Society
- Fly, fly, Nicodicé, ere Calycé and Crityllé perish in the fire, or are stifled in the smoke raised by these accursed old men and their pitiless laws.
341 BCE,
Demosthenes,
Third Philippic 31:
- ἀλλ᾽ ὀλέθρου Μακεδόνος, ὅθεν οὐδ᾽ ἀνδράποδον σπουδαῖον οὐδὲν ἦν πρότερον πρίασθαι.
- Translation by Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge (1873–1952)
- he is a pestilent Macedonian, from whose country it used not to be possible to buy even a slave of any value.
Usage notes
In the Iliad and Odyssey, this word is very often found in the phrase αἰπὺς ὄλεθρος (aipùs ólethros, “headlong destruction”), as in the first example above.
Declension
Descendants
References