πολιτεία

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 18 April 2014

Alternative forms

• πολῑτηίη (polītēíē) — Ionic

Etymology

From πολῑ́της (polī́tēs, “citizen”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, abstract noun–forming suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /po.liː.těː.aː/ → /po.liˈti.a/ → /po.liˈti.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /po.liː.těː.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /po.liˈti.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /po.liˈti.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /po.liˈti.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /po.liˈti.a/

Noun

πολῑτείᾱ • (polīteíā) f (genitive πολιτείᾱς); first declension (Attic, Ionic, Koine)

1. the relation in which a citizen stands to the state, the condition and rights of a citizen, citizenship
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.34
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 4.4.6
   1. the life of a citizen, one's daily life
      • 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, Collected Works 21.7
   2. the body of citizens
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 4.4.31
2. the life and business of a statesman, government, administration
   • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 219
3. civil polity, the condition or constitution of a state
   • Antiphanes 120.40
   1. a well-ordered republican government, a commonwealth
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 8.10.1
   2. a free community, republic
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians 1.1

Inflection

First declension of ἡ πολῑτείᾱ; τῆς πολῑτείᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ πολῑτείᾱ hē polīteíā	τὼ πολῑτείᾱ tṑ polīteíā	αἱ πολῑτεῖαι hai polīteîai
Genitive	τῆς πολῑτείᾱς tês polīteíās	τοῖν πολῑτείαιν toîn polīteíain	τῶν πολῑτειῶν tôn polīteiôn
Dative	τῇ πολῑτείᾳ têi polīteíāi	τοῖν πολῑτείαιν toîn polīteíain	ταῖς πολῑτείαις taîs polīteíais
Accusative	τὴν πολῑτείᾱν tḕn polīteíān	τὼ πολῑτείᾱ tṑ polīteíā	τᾱ̀ς πολῑτείᾱς tā̀s polīteíās
Vocative	πολῑτείᾱ polīteíā	πολῑτείᾱ polīteíā	πολῑτεῖαι polīteîai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → English: politeia
• Greek: πολιτεία (politeía)
• → Latin: polītīa (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “πολιτεία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πολιτεία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• πολιτεία in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• G4174 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.
  • citizenship idem, page 133.
  • city idem, page 133.
  • commonwealth idem, page 149.
  • community idem, page 149.
  • constitution idem, page 164.
  • constitutional idem, page 165.
  • government idem, page 368.
  • policy idem, page 624.
  • polity idem, page 625.
  • public idem, page 655.
  • republic idem, page 699.
  • state idem, page 812.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /po.liˈti.a/
• Hyphenation: πο‧λι‧τεί‧α

Noun

πολιτεία • (politeía) f (plural πολιτείες)

1. state

   οι 50 πολιτείες των ΗΠΑ ― oi 50 politeíes ton IPA ― the 50 states of the USA

2. city, place

   η χαμένη πολιτεία του Μάτσου Πίκτσου

   i chaméni politeía tou Mátsou Píktsou

   the lost city of Machu Picchu

   Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό ήταν μια πολιτεία παράξενη, καμωμένη πάνω σ’ ένα δέντρο.

   Mia forá ki énan kairó ítan mia politeía paráxeni, kamoméni páno s’ éna déntro.

   Once upon a time there was a strange city, built on a tree.

3. government, republic
4. body politic, polity

Declension

Declension of πολιτεία

	singular	plural
nominative	πολιτεία •	πολιτείες •
genitive	πολιτείας •	πολιτειών •
accusative	πολιτεία •	πολιτείες •
vocative	πολιτεία •	πολιτείες •

Synonyms

• (city): πόλη f (póli)
• (large city): άστυ n (ásty)
• (state): επικράτεια f (epikráteia)

Related terms

• see: πόλη f (póli, “town, city”)

Further reading

• πολιτεία, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
• πολιτεία on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el