λίθος
Ancient Greek
Etymology
Has been compared to λεῖος (leîos, “smooth”), λιτός (litós, “simple, plain”), Latin laedō (“to strike, hurt”), and Lithuanian slidùs (“slippery, slick”). Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin, noting that words for "stone" are often taken from a substrate language.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /lí.tʰos/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈli.tʰos/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈli.θos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈli.θos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈli.θos/
Noun
λῐ́θος • (líthos) m (genitive λῐ́θου); second declension
- a stone
- Synonym: πέτρος (pétros)
- stone as a substance
- Synonym: πέτρα (pétra)
- stone, pebble (used as as piece in a board-game)
- large rock or stone block, used as a seat to a speaker's platform, especially in the Assembly or in the Athenian agora, where archons, arbitrators and certain witnesses swore oaths
Usage notes
Λίθος is sometimes used as a feminine noun. This often (but not always) is used to refer to some special stone, such as a gem or magnet.
Inflection
Second declension of ὁ, ἡ λῐ́θος; τοῦ, τῆς λῐ́θου (Attic)
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ὁ, ἡ λῐ́θος ho, hē líthos | τὼ λῐ́θω tṑ líthō | οἱ, αἱ λῐ́θοι hoi, hai líthoi | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τοῦ, τῆς λῐ́θου toû, tês líthou | τοῖν λῐ́θοιν toîn líthoin | τῶν λῐ́θων tôn líthōn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῷ, τῇ λῐ́θῳ tôi, têi líthōi | τοῖν λῐ́θοιν toîn líthoin | τοῖς, ταῖς λῐ́θοις toîs, taîs líthois | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὸν, τὴν λῐ́θον tòn, tḕn líthon | τὼ λῐ́θω tṑ líthō | τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς λῐ́θους toùs, tā̀s líthous | ||||||||||
| Vocative | λῐ́θε líthe | λῐ́θω líthō | λῐ́θοι líthoi | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Derived terms
- λιθάργυρος (lithárguros)
- λιθουργός (lithourgós)
- μονόλιθος (monólithos)
Descendants
Descendants of λίθος in other languages
- → Catalan: liti (learned)
- → English: -lite
- → English: -lith
- → English: lith-, litho-
- → Georgian: ლითონი (litoni)
- →⇒ New Latin: lithium (see there for further descendants)
- English: lithium
Further reading
- “λίθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “λίθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “λίθος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- λίθος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- λίθος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “λίθος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G3037 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.
- boulder idem, page 90.
- crag idem, page 182.
- gem idem, page 355.
- jewel idem, page 463.
- pebble idem, page 601.
- precious idem, page 634.
- rock idem, page 719.
- stone idem, page 819.
- touch-stone idem, page 884.
- trinket idem, page 895.
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
Greek
Etymology
Learnedly, from Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos), masculine (also feminine).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈli.θos/
- Hyphenation: λί‧θος
Noun
λίθος • (líthos) m or f (plural λίθοι)
- masculine form:
- stone (building material)
- ο θεμέλιος λίθος ― o themélios líthos ― the foundation stone
- (medicine, formal) stone, calculus
- (archaeology) Εποχή του Λίθου (“Stone Age”)
- stone (building material)
- feminine form (in phrases): special "stones":
- λυδία λίθος (“touch stone”)
- φιλοσοφική λίθος (“philosopher's stone”)
Declension
declension of λίθος
| case \\ number | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | λίθος • | λίθοι • |
| genitive | λίθου • | λίθων • |
| accusative | λίθο • | λίθους • |
| vocative | λίθε • | λίθοι • |
Synonyms
- (rock, medicine): πέτρα f (pétra, “stone”)
- (rock): βράχος m (vráchos, “stone”)
Coordinate terms
- βράχος m (vráchos, “rock”)
- πέτρα f (pétra, “rock”)
Related terms
Expressions
- ακρογωνιαίος λίθος m (akrogoniaíos líthos, “cornerstone”)
- ημιπολύτιμος λίθος m (imipolýtimos líthos)
- κινώ πάντα λίθον (kinó pánta líthon)
- λίθοι, πλίνθοι και κέραμοι ατάκτως ερριμένα (líthoi, plínthoi kai kéramoi atáktos erriména)
ancient: λίθοι καὶ πλίνθοι καὶ ξύλα καὶ κέραμος ἀτάκτως ἐρριμμένα (líthoi kaì plínthoi kaì xúla kaì kéramos atáktōs errhimména) - θεμέλιος λίθος m (themélios líthos)
- πολύτιμος λίθος m (polýtimos líthos)
Derivatives and compounds
- απολίθωμα n (apolíthoma, “fossil”)
- ασβεστόλιθος m (asvestólithos, “limestone”)
- λιθίαση f (lithíasi)
- λιθικός (lithikós)
- λίθινος f (líthinos)
- λιθογραφία f (lithografía, “lithograph, lithography”)
- λιθόκτιστος (lithóktistos)
- λιθοξόος m (lithoxóos)
- λιθόστρωτο n (lithóstroto, “cobblestone”)
- λιθοτριψία f (lithotripsía)
- λιθόσφαιρα f (lithósfaira, “lithosphere”)
- λιθώδης f (lithódis)
- μονόλιθος m (monólithos)
- σφραγιδόλιθος m (sfragidólithos)
- σχιστόλιθος m (schistólithos)
Further reading
λίθος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia el- λίθος - Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], 1998, by the "Triantafyllidis" Foundation.