περισσός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

περιττός (perittós) — Attic

Etymology

From περί (perí, “above, beyond”).^[1]

Adjective

περισσός • (perissós) m (feminine περισσή, neuter περισσόν); first/second declension

beyond the regular number or size, prodigious
- 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 399
1. out of the common way, extraordinary, uncommon, remarkable, strange
  - 6th century BC, Theognis of Megara, Elegies 769
  - 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 841
  - 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 1197
  - 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 791
  - 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 437
  - 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Second Tetralogy 4.5
  - 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 77
  - 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Antidosis 145
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1141B.6
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1312A.27
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1053B.3
  - 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 5:47
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 531A.9
  - 250 CE – 350 CE, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 13.611C
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1265A.11
  - 341 BCE – 270 BCE, Epicurus, Fragments 409
  - 213 CE – 273 CE, Cassius Longinus, Collected Works 40.2
  - 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Letter to Pompey 2
  - 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, On Demosthenes 56
2. (of persons) extraordinary, eminent, remarkable
  - 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 948
  - 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Fragments 788
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 983A.2
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Generation of Animals 760A.4
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Problems 953A.10
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1267B.24
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 622B.6
  - 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Demetrius 2
  - 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Demosthenes 3
  - Alciphron, Collected Works 1.12
  - 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, The Arrangement of Words 18
3. (with genitive) beyond others in
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 155
  - Palatine Anthology 6.321
  - 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 11:9
more than sufficient, reserve, spare, surplus
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 3.6.6
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 7.6.31
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 20.1
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.2.21
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hiero 1.19
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hipparchicus 8.14
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.6.12
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 4.8.11
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 5.3.13
- New Testament, Epistle to the Romans 3:1
- 100 CE – 200 CE, Xenophon of Ephesus, Ephesian Tale 1.3
1. (in a bad sense) superfluous, redundant, useless
  - 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 385
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 758
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Fragments 82
  - 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1048
  - 431 BCE, Euripides, Medea 819
  - 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 459
2. excessive, extravagant
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.32
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 617
  - 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 68
  - 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Fragments 924
  - 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 407B
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 645C
  - 100 BCE – 1 BCE, Plato, Axiochus 365C
  - 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.615D
  - 55 CE – 56 CE, Paul the Apostle, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 2:7
3. (of persons) over-wise, over-curious
  - 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 445
  - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 9.1.4
  - 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Cicero 8
  - 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Against Timarchus 119
4. (as a term of praise) subtle, acute
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Topics 141B.13
(arithmetic) odd
- 540 BCE – 450 BCE, Epicharmus, Collected Works 170.7
- 470 BCE – 385 BCE, Philolaus, Collected Works 5
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 356E
- 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Aphorisms 4.61
- 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 451C
- Hephaestio, Collected Works 5.1
- 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Euclid, Elements 7
Synonyms: ἀνᾰ́ρτῐος (anártios), σκαληνός (skalēnós)

Antonyms: ἄρτιος (ártios), ἰσοσκελής (isoskelḗs)

Inflection

First and second declension of περισσός; περισσή; περισσόν (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	περισσός perissós	περισσή perissḗ	περισσόν perissón	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσᾱ́ perissā́	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσοί perissoí	περισσαί perissaí	περισσᾰ́ perissá
Genitive	περισσοῦ perissoû	περισσῆς perissês	περισσοῦ perissoû	περισσοῖν perissoîn	περισσαῖν perissaîn	περισσοῖν perissoîn	περισσῶν perissôn	περισσῶν perissôn	περισσῶν perissôn
Dative	περισσῷ perissôi	περισσῇ perissêi	περισσῷ perissôi	περισσοῖν perissoîn	περισσαῖν perissaîn	περισσοῖν perissoîn	περισσοῖς perissoîs	περισσαῖς perissaîs	περισσοῖς perissoîs
Accusative	περισσόν perissón	περισσήν perissḗn	περισσόν perissón	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσᾱ́ perissā́	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσούς perissoús	περισσᾱ́ς perissā́s	περισσᾰ́ perissá
Vocative	περισσέ perissé	περισσή perissḗ	περισσόν perissón	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσᾱ́ perissā́	περισσώ perissṓ	περισσοί perissoí	περισσαί perissaí	περισσᾰ́ perissá
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	περισσῶς perissôs			περισσότερος perissóteros			περισσότᾰτος perissótatos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “περί (> DER > περι-σσός, -ττός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1176