πλῆθος
See also: πλίθος and πλήθος
Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
- πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s) – Ionic, Epic
- πλᾶθος (plâthos) – Tragic, pseudo-Doric
- πλεῖθος (pleîthos) – Boeotian
Etymology
From πλήθω (plḗthō, “to fill”), the intransitive counterpart of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi).
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /plɛ̂ː.tʰos/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈple̝.tʰos/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈpli.θos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈpli.θos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈpli.θos/
Noun
πλῆθος • (plêthos) n (genitive πλήθεος or πλήθους); third declension (Attic, Doric, Arcadocypriot)
- a large number of things, a great number
- majority, main portion
- something of large size or magnitude
- specifically: a large group of people: crowd, multitude, throng, mob
- populace, people, general public
- magnitude, size, extent
- amount, quantity
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories :
- ἐὸν ὀρέων καὶ πλήθεϊ μέγιστον καὶ μεγάθεϊ ὑψηλότατον.
- eòn oréōn kaì plḗtheï mégiston kaì megátheï hupsēlótaton.
- being greatest in number and loftiest in height of mountains
- ἐὸν ὀρέων καὶ πλήθεϊ μέγιστον καὶ μεγάθεϊ ὑψηλότατον.
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, 3 70.5:
- πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ ἱκετῶν καθεζομένων διὰ πλῆθος τῆς ζημίας, ὅπως ταξάμενοι ἀποδῶσιν
- pròs tà hierà hiketôn kathezoménōn dià plêthos tês zēmías, hópōs taxámenoi apodôsin
- [they] sat as suppliants in the temple because of the quantity of the fine, [praying] that they could pay it in installments
- πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ ἱκετῶν καθεζομένων διὰ πλῆθος τῆς ζημίας, ὅπως ταξάμενοι ἀποδῶσιν
- (of time) length
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.1.3:
- τὰ γὰρ πρὸ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτι παλαίτερα σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν διὰ χρόνου πλῆθος ἀδύνατα ἦν
- tà gàr prò autôn kaì tà éti palaítera saphôs mèn heureîn dià khrónou plêthos adúnata ên
- the events before them and the events from a longer time ago were impossible to clearly determine because of the length of time
- τὰ γὰρ πρὸ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτι παλαίτερα σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν διὰ χρόνου πλῆθος ἀδύνατα ἦν
- amount, quantity
Usage notes
Several of the senses of this noun mirror those of the adjective πολύς (polús, “much, many”).
Inflection
Third declension of τὸ πλῆθος; τοῦ πλήθους (Attic)
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | τὸ πλῆθος tò plêthos | τὼ πλήθει tṑ plḗthei | τᾰ̀ πλήθη tà plḗthē | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ πλήθους toû plḗthous | τοῖν πληθοῖν toîn plēthoîn | τῶν πληθῶν tôn plēthôn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ πλήθει tôi plḗthei | τοῖν πληθοῖν toîn plēthoîn | τοῖς πλήθεσῐ / πλήθεσῐν toîs plḗthesi(n) | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸ πλῆθος tò plêthos | τὼ πλήθει tṑ plḗthei | τᾰ̀ πλήθη tà plḗthē | ||||||||||
Vocative | πλῆθος plêthos | πλήθει plḗthei | πλήθη plḗthē | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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References
- “πλῆθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “πλῆθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “πλῆθος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- πλῆθος 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
- πλῆθος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “πλῆθος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G4128 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.
- abundance idem, page 4.
- accumulation idem, page 7.
- amount idem, page 28.
- assortment idem, page 47.
- batch idem, page 65.
- bulk idem, page 103.
- common idem, page 148.
- commons idem, page 149.
- copiousness idem, page 173.
- crowd idem, page 186.
- degree idem, page 206.
- dimension idem, page 225.
- extent idem, page 296.
- exuberance idem, page 298.
- fulness idem, page 349.
- greatness idem, page 372.
- heap idem, page 391.
- herd idem, page 397.
- immensity idem, page 418.
- largeness idem, page 477.
- lavishness idem, page 479.
- length idem, page 485.
- magnitude idem, page 507.
- mass idem, page 516.
- mob idem, page 537.
- multiplicity idem, page 546.
- multitude idem, page 546.
- number idem, page 563.
- people idem, page 604.
- plenty idem, page 620.
- populace idem, page 626.
- population idem, page 626.
- press idem, page 637.
- profuseness idem, page 653.
- proletariat idem, page 653.
- quantity idem, page 663.
- rabble idem, page 667.
- size idem, page 780.
- space idem, page 797.
- store idem, page 820.
- strength idem, page 824.
- sum idem, page 837.
- tale idem, page 854.
- throng idem, page 870.
- vastness idem, page 945.
- vulgar idem, page 958.
- wealth idem, page 970.