πλεῖστος

See also: πλείστος and Πλειστός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the root of πολύς (polús, “much, many”) +‎ -ιστος (-istos, superlative suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /plêːs.tos/ → /ˈplis.tos/ → /ˈplis.tos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /plêːs.tos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈplis.tos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈplis.tos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈplis.tos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈplis.tos/

Adjective

πλεῖστος • (pleîstos)

1. (of number, also of size, extent, strength, etc.) most, very much
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 15.616
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 16.377
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.697
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Fr. 33.1
   • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 478
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 342A
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 7.1.23
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.220
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.126
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.36
   1. (with the article, like οἱ πολλοί) the greatest number, the greatest part of..
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.90
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 718A
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.5
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 7.3
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.34
      • 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 408
2. (adverbial, like μάλιστα) most
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.287
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 231
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 2.2.12
   • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 631
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 743
   • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 790
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.97
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 720
   • 390 BCE, Plato, Hippias Major 281B
   1. (with the article) for the most part
      • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 260
      • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Critias 118C
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 563A.31
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 17.855
      • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Epidemics 6.1.10
3. (with prepositions)
   1. (διά) furthest off
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.115
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.11
   2. (εἰς) most
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 739
   3. (ἐπί) over the greatest distance, to the greatest extent
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.127
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.138
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.2
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.14
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 720D
   4. (κατά)
      • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 11.4.7
   5. (περί)

Inflection

First and second declension of πλεῖστος; πλείστη; πλεῖστον (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		πλεῖστος pleîstos	πλείστη pleístē	πλεῖστον pleîston		πλείστω pleístō	πλείστᾱ pleístā	πλείστω pleístō		πλεῖστοι pleîstoi	πλεῖσται pleîstai	πλεῖστᾰ pleîsta
Genitive		πλείστου pleístou	πλείστης pleístēs	πλείστου pleístou		πλείστοιν pleístoin	πλείσταιν pleístain	πλείστοιν pleístoin		πλείστων pleístōn	πλείστων pleístōn	πλείστων pleístōn
Dative		πλείστῳ pleístōi	πλείστῃ pleístēi	πλείστῳ pleístōi		πλείστοιν pleístoin	πλείσταιν pleístain	πλείστοιν pleístoin		πλείστοις pleístois	πλείσταις pleístais	πλείστοις pleístois
Accusative		πλεῖστον pleîston	πλείστην pleístēn	πλεῖστον pleîston		πλείστω pleístō	πλείστᾱ pleístā	πλείστω pleístō		πλείστους pleístous	πλείστᾱς pleístās	πλεῖστᾰ pleîsta
Vocative		πλεῖστε pleîste	πλείστη pleístē	πλεῖστον pleîston		πλείστω pleístō	πλείστᾱ pleístā	πλείστω pleístō		πλεῖστοι pleîstoi	πλεῖσται pleîstai	πλεῖστᾰ pleîsta
Derived forms		Adverb				Comparative				Superlative
		πλεῖστον pleîston				—				—
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• πᾰ́μπλειστος (pámpleistos, “in large quantity, number”)
• πλειστᾰ́κις (pleistákis, “mostly, very often”, adverb)
• πλείσταρχος (pleístarkhos, “holding widest sway”)
• πλειστᾰχόθεν (pleistakhóthen, “from most or many places”, adverb)
• πλειστήρης (pleistḗrēs, “manifold, all the whole”)
• πλειστηριᾰ́ζω (pleistēriázō, “raise the price”)
• πλειστηριᾰσμός (pleistēriasmós, “increase of price”) (Hellenistic Koine)
• πλειστηρῐ́ζομαι (pleistērízomai, “accuse as chief cause”)
• πλειστοβολέω (pleistoboléō, “throw highest at dice”)
• πλειστοβολίνδα f (pleistobolínda, “dice-playing”)
• πλειστόβολος (pleistóbolos, “throwing high”)
• πλειστοβόλος (pleistobólos, “throwing the most”)
• πλειστοδυναμέω (pleistodunaméō, “be dominant, prevail”)
• πλειστοφόρος (pleistophóros, “bearing most”)
• πλειστογονέω (pleistogonéō, “produce many offsprings”)
• πλειστολόγως (pleistológōs, “in various ways”, adverb)
• πλειστολόχειᾰ f (pleistolókheia, “small birthwort, Aristolochia Plistolochia”)
• πλειστόμβροτος (pleistómbrotos, “crowded with people”)
• πλειστονῑ́κης (pleistonī́kēs, “victor in many contests”)
• Πλειστός m (Pleistós, “the river Plistus”)
• πλειστοτόκος (pleistotókos, “producing most offspring”)

Descendants

• Greek: πλείστος (pleístos)

References

• “πλεῖστος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πλεῖστος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πλεῖστος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πλεῖστος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πλεῖστος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “πλεῖστος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G4118 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.
  • most idem, page 542.