λεία

Forms

λείᾱ (leíā) f (genitive λείᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic ληΐη (lēḯē), Doric λᾴα (lā́iā) (Pindar); beside it ληΐς (lēḯs), genitive ληΐδος, the form Homer and Hesiod use.^[2][3]

Etymology

The Attic form and Ionic ληΐη (lēḯē) go back to *λᾱϝία (*lāwía), and the related ληΐς (lēḯs) to *λᾱϝίδ- (*lāwíd-).^[2][4] Beekes and Frisk see in it an abstract formed either from a noun *λᾱϝος (*lāwos) or straight from a verbal root, whose zero grade has been sought in ἀπολαύω (apolaúō, “to enjoy, have the benefit of”): Proto-Indo-European *leh₂u- (“to capture, seize”).^[2][5] Chantraine considers it without an etymology and calls the link with that verb only an attempt, and Heubeck compared λαός (laós) in the sense “class of warriors”.^[4][6] LSJ explains it as “the people's property”, comparing Latin populor (“to plunder”).^[3] Wiktionary compares Latin lucrum and Proto-Germanic *launą.^[1]

A Mycenaean word Mycenaean Greek ra-wi-ja-ja “captive women” has been read as a derivative of the same stem, but Heubeck doubted it.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pindar's tenth Olympian has the Doric form λᾴα (lā́iā), for plundered cattle, while Homer and Hesiod use only ληΐς (lēḯs).^[3][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus often uses the Ionic ληΐη (lēḯē) for booty, and for plunder as a way of life: some peoples “live from plunder and war”.^[3] In Attic tragedy and prose λεία is especially the cattle carried off in a raid, as against the captives, but also the spoils of war in general, Euripides uses it of captive persons and of a hunter's prey.^[3][8][2] The proverb “Mysian booty”, for something anyone may plunder with impunity, is in Demosthenes and Aristotle.^[3][8]

Ptolemaic papyri use it for stolen property, and for livestock in tax registers.^[3] From the same stem come ληΐζομαι (lēḯzomai, “to plunder”) and λῃστής (lēistḗs, “robber”).^[2][5]

Modern Greek λεία (lía) is a learned word for war booty, enemy ships taken at sea, the takings of a robbery, an animal's prey, and anything exploited or plundered.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the Doric λᾴα (lā́iā) for cattle taken as spoil.^[3][2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic ληΐη (lēḯē) for booty and for plundering.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for captured cattle, Euripides for captives and for a hunter's prey, and Thucydides for booty in general.^[3][8]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes and Aristotle cite the proverb “Mysian booty”.^[3][8]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use it for stolen property and for livestock.^[3]
• Modern Greek – λεία (lía) means booty, loot or prey.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Booty, plunder, especially cattle carried off in a raid; more rarely captives.^[3][8]
2. Plunder as an act; plundering.^[3]
3. The prey of hunters.^[3][8]
4. (papyri) Stolen property.^[3]
5. (papyri) Flocks and herds, livestock.^[3][2]

Word family

• λεϊστός (leïstós)
• λῄζομαι (lḗizomai)
• λῃστεία (lēisteíā)
• λῃστεύω (lēisteúō)
• λῃστήριον (lēistḗrion)
• λῃστής (lēistḗs)
• λῃστικός (lēistikós)
• λῃστρικός (lēistrikós)
• λῃστρίς (lēistrís)
• ληΐζομαι (lēḯzomai)
• ληΐς (lēḯs)
• ληϊστής (lēïstḗs)

Related words

• ἀπολαύω (apolaúō)
• λεηλατέω (leēlatéō)

Usage notes

A different noun λεία, from λεῖος (leîos, “smooth”), is a tool for smoothing stone, found once in a fragment of Sophocles.^[3][10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Montanari, Franco (2015), The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek, ed. Madeleine Goh and Chad Schroeder, Leiden; Boston: Brill