παλαιός

παλαιός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πάλαος (pálaos) – Aeolic
• παλεός (paleós) – Laconian
• παληός (palēós) – Boeotian

Etymology

From πάλαι (pálai, “long ago”). Likely cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀨𐀍 (pa-ra-jo), which has been argued to mean “old”; this connection points to a Proto-Hellenic *palai(y)ós and casts doubt on the popularly proposed etymology from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-.[1][2]

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pa.lai̯.ós/ → /pa.lɛˈos/ → /pa.leˈos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pa.lai̯.ós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pa.lɛˈos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /pa.lɛˈos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /pa.leˈos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /pa.leˈos/

Adjective

πᾰλαιός • (palaiós) m (feminine πᾰλαιᾱ́, neuter πᾰλαιόν); first/second declension

1. old, aged

   Synonym: γεραιός (geraiós)

2. ancient, of times past

   Synonym: ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos)

3. time-honoured, venerable
4. antiquated, outdated

Declension

First and second declension of πᾰλαιός; πᾰλαιᾱ́; πᾰλαιόν (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		πᾰλαιός palaiós	πᾰλαιᾱ́ palaiā́	πᾰλαιόν palaión		πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ	πᾰλαιᾱ́ palaiā́	πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ		πᾰλαιοί palaioí	πᾰλαιαί palaiaí	πᾰλαιᾰ́ palaiá
Genitive		πᾰλαιοῦ palaioû	πᾰλαιᾶς palaiâs	πᾰλαιοῦ palaioû		πᾰλαιοῖν palaioîn	πᾰλαιαῖν palaiaîn	πᾰλαιοῖν palaioîn		πᾰλαιῶν palaiôn	πᾰλαιῶν palaiôn	πᾰλαιῶν palaiôn
Dative		πᾰλαιῷ palaiôi	πᾰλαιᾷ palaiâi	πᾰλαιῷ palaiôi		πᾰλαιοῖν palaioîn	πᾰλαιαῖν palaiaîn	πᾰλαιοῖν palaioîn		πᾰλαιοῖς palaioîs	πᾰλαιαῖς palaiaîs	πᾰλαιοῖς palaioîs
Accusative		πᾰλαιόν palaión	πᾰλαιᾱ́ν palaiā́n	πᾰλαιόν palaión		πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ	πᾰλαιᾱ́ palaiā́	πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ		πᾰλαιούς palaioús	πᾰλαιᾱ́ς palaiā́s	πᾰλαιᾰ́ palaiá
Vocative		πᾰλαιέ palaié	πᾰλαιᾱ́ palaiā́	πᾰλαιόν palaión		πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ	πᾰλαιᾱ́ palaiā́	πᾰλαιώ palaiṓ		πᾰλαιοί palaioí	πᾰλαιαί palaiaí	πᾰλαιᾰ́ palaiá
Derived forms		Adverb				Comparative				Superlative
		πᾰλαιῶς palaiôs				πᾰλαίτερος palaíteros				πᾰλαίτᾰτος palaítatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• πᾰλαιορᾰ́φος (palaioráphos)
• παλαιότης (palaiótēs)
• παλαιόω (palaióō)
• παλαιῶς (palaiôs)

Descendants

• Greek: παλιός (paliós)
• → English: paleo-, palaeo-
• → Irish: pailé-
• → German: paläo-
• → French: paléo-

Further reading

1. John Chadwick; Lydia Baumbach (1963), “The Mycenaean Greek Vocabulary”, in Glotta : Zeitschrift für griechische und lateinische Sprache, volume 41, issue 3/4, Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG), JSTOR 40265918, OCLC 905264035, page 232 of 157–271: “πάλαι”
2. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “πάλαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1144–1145

• “παλαιός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “παλαιός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “παλαιός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• παλαιός 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
• παλαιός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “παλαιός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3820 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.
  • aged idem, page 18.
  • ancient idem, page 29.
  • antiquated idem, page 32.
  • antique idem, page 32.
  • by-gone idem, page 107.
  • date idem, page 196.
  • disuse idem, page 243.
  • early idem, page 258.
  • effete idem, page 262.
  • fashion idem, page 308.
  • former idem, page 339.
  • hackneyed idem, page 380.
  • immemorial idem, page 417.
  • obsolete idem, page 567.
  • old idem, page 572.
  • old-fashioned idem, page 572.
  • past idem, page 597.
  • played out idem, page 619.
  • primeval idem, page 641.
  • primitive idem, page 641.
  • pristine idem, page 642.
  • stale idem, page 809.
  • superannuated idem, page 838.
  • threadbare idem, page 869.
  • trite idem, page 896.
  • unfashionable idem, page 917.

---

Greek

Alternative forms

• παλιός (paliós)

Adjective

παλαιός • (palaiós) m (feminine παλαιά, neuter παλαιό)

1. long established, old, former, not modern, worn out

Usage notes

• In general, for positive forms, παλιός is more common than παλαιός, however with the degrees of comparison forms inflected from παλαιότερος and παλαιότατος are more frequent than those from παλιότερος and παλιότατος.

Declension

Declension of παλαιός

number  case \\ gender	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	παλαιός •	παλαιά •	παλαιό •	παλαιοί •	παλαιές •	παλαιά •
genitive	παλαιού •	παλαιάς •	παλαιού •	παλαιών •	παλαιών •	παλαιών •
accusative	παλαιό •	παλαιά •	παλαιό •	παλαιούς •	παλαιές •	παλαιά •
vocative	παλαιέ •	παλαιά •	παλαιό •	παλαιοί •	παλαιές •	παλαιά •
derivations	Comparative: πιο + positive forms (e.g. πιο παλαιός, etc.) Relative superlative: definite article + πιο + positive forms (e.g. ο πιο παλαιός, etc.)
notes	there are also rare feminine forms παλαιή and παλαιής

Degrees of comparison by suffixation

comparative	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	παλαιότερος •	παλαιότερη •	παλαιότερο •	παλαιότεροι •	παλαιότερες •	παλαιότερα •
genitive	παλαιότερου •	παλαιότερης •	παλαιότερου •	παλαιότερων •	παλαιότερων •	παλαιότερων •
accusative	παλαιότερο •	παλαιότερη •	παλαιότερο •	παλαιότερους •	παλαιότερες •	παλαιότερα •
vocative	παλαιότερε •	παλαιότερη •	παλαιότερο •	παλαιότεροι •	παλαιότερες •	παλαιότερα •
derivations	relative superlative: ο + comparative forms (eg "ο παλαιότερος", etc)
Absolute superlative	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	παλαιότατος •	παλαιότατη •	παλαιότατο •	παλαιότατοι •	παλαιότατες •	παλαιότατα •
genitive	παλαιότατου •	παλαιότατης •	παλαιότατου •	παλαιότατων •	παλαιότατων •	παλαιότατων •
accusative	παλαιότατο •	παλαιότατη •	παλαιότατο •	παλαιότατους •	παλαιότατες •	παλαιότατα •
vocative	παλαιότατε •	παλαιότατη •	παλαιότατο •	παλαιότατοι •	παλαιότατες •	παλαιότατα •

See also

• γέρος (géros) (old, aged, elderly)
• ηλικιωμένος (ilikioménos) (old, aged, elderly)