λεῖος
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /lêː.os/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈli.os/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈli.os/[1]
Forms
λεῖος (leîos) m (feminine λείᾱ, neuter λεῖον); first/second declension[1]
Etymology
It continues an older form with a digamma, *λεῖϝος (*leîwos), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁y-u- (“smooth”).[1][2] It is cognate with Latin lēvis (“smooth”), an i-stem that may have replaced an older u-stem.[2][3] Schrijver derived both from a u-stem Proto-Indo-European *leh₁i-u-, made thematic in Greek.[2][3] The same root is probably in λίς (lī́s, “smooth (of rock)”), λιτός (lītós, “plain”) and λείμαξ (leímax).[2][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad (4.484) it describes the smooth trunk of a poplar, and Homer often uses it of level ground, a racecourse, a field cleared of obstacles, or a place free of rocks.[5][6][7]
Semantic evolution
From smooth and level ground it was used of anything smooth to the touch: an eel in Aristophanes, a calm sea in Herodotus, worked marble and unembossed silver plate in inscriptions.[5][7] Of textiles it meant plain, not brocaded (Thucydides), and of people and animals smooth-skinned, hairless, beardless, and Aristotle calls man the smoothest of animals.[5][7] Figuratively it described soft words (Aeschylus), smooth sounds (Plato), a gentle breeze (Aristophanes), and for the Cyrenaics the “smooth movement” that is pleasure.[5][7]
Its derivatives include λειότης (leiótēs, “smoothness”) and the verb λειαίνω (leiaínō, “to smooth; grind fine”).[3][4] The Gospel of Luke, in a passage from Isaiah, uses it of a level road.[8]
Modern Greek has it as the learned Modern Greek λείος (líos), “smooth”, used in anatomy of smooth muscle fibres.[9]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of smooth trunks and level ground.[5][6]
- 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of plain, unembroidered cloth.[5][7][10]
- 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of smooth-skinned animals and of a smooth shark.[5][10]
- 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke uses it of a level road.[8]
- Modern Greek – It is used as Modern Greek λείος (líos), a learned word.[9]
Meanings
Adjective
- Smooth to the touch.[5][7]
- Of ground: level, even; free from (with the genitive).[5][7][6]
- Of cloth: plain, not embroidered; of stone or metal: unsculptured, unembossed.[5][7]
- Of people and animals: smooth-skinned, hairless, beardless.[5][7]
- (figurative) Of words, sounds, a breeze or a temper: soft, gentle.[5][7]
Word family
- λειογένειος (leiogéneios)
- λειότης (leiótēs)
- λειόπους (leiópous)
- λεωπετρία (leōpetría)
Related words
- λίς (lī́s)
- λιτός (lītós)
- Latin lēvis
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d 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
- ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
- ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge