πλεῖστος

See also: πλείστος and Πλειστός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(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)

(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
(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
(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)

Declension

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
Derived forms	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.