μάλιστα

Ancient Greek edit

Etymology edit

Superlative of μάλα (mála, “very”), from μάλα +‎ -ιστα (-ista, superlative adverb suffix).

Pronunciation edit

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.lis.ta/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/

Adverb edit

μᾰ́λῐστᾰ • (málista)

most, most of all, above all
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.353
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 647
- 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1285
- 4th century BC, Isaeus, Menecles 20
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.22
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.40
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 590D
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 25
- 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 152
- 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 180B
- 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 617
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.53
- 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 448D
- 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 80B
- 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 218C
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.37
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 327A
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.86
- 204 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Collected Works 5.5.11
- 204 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Collected Works 6.2.7
1. (strengthened, preceded by ὡς or ὅτι)
  - 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 294
  - 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 460A
  - 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 524
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.185
  - 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 367B
  - 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 510B
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 277A
  - 360 BCE, Plato, The Sophist 239B
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.171
  - 110 CE – 180 CE, Pausanias Periegeta, Graeciae Descriptio 1.42.3
  - 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 3.35
2. (with the article) for the most part, mostly
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.20
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.104
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.6
  - 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 212
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.147
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.92
  - 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 62
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 794D
  - 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 95
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 2
  - 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 21
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.118
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.8
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Letters 2.24
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.90
  - 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 173B
  - 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, Various History 14.40
  - 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, Secret History 4
3. (added to a superlative)
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.220
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.334
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
  - 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 1421
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.55
4. (for μᾶλλον)
  - 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1594
  - 300 BCE – 250 BCE, Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.91
5. (in loose accounts of numbers, used to show that they are not exact)
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.29
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.92
  - 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 5.2.31
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.118
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.68
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.191
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.93
  - 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 175C
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.22
  - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 2.41.13
6. (καὶ μάλιστα, used in answers) most certainly
  - 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 827
  - 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 994
  - 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 253
  - 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 1531
  - 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 453D

Descendants edit

Greek: μάλιστα (málista)

References edit

“μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“μάλιστα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
μάλιστα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
μάλιστα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
G3122 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- about idem, page 2.
- best idem, page 75.
- chiefly idem, page 129.
- eminently idem, page 268.
- especially idem, page 282.
- just idem, page 466.
- largely idem, page 477.
- mainly idem, page 508.
- materially idem, page 517.
- most idem, page 542.
- nearly idem, page 553.
- notably idem, page 562.
- particularly idem, page 594.
- peculiarly idem, page 601.
- pre-eminently idem, page 634.
- principally idem, page 641.
- singularly idem, page 779.
- superlatively idem, page 839.
- yes idem, page 996.

Greek edit

Etymology edit

From Ancient Greek μάλιστα (málista).

Adverb edit

μάλιστα • (málista)

yes, certainly, ok, of course, right you are, okey-dokey (acknowledging that a request has been heard and understood)

Coordinate terms edit

ναι (nai, “yes”)
όχι (óchi, “no”)