πλεονασμός

Forms

πλεονασμός (pleonasmós) m (genitive πλεονασμοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πλεονάζω (pleonázō, “to be more than enough, be superfluous”) + -μός (-mós).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

LSJ's earliest citation is Aristotle's Generation of Animals, where it is an excess of moisture or of bodily parts.^[4] GLAUx also finds it in the Hippocratic treatises On Humours and On Nutriment.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first meaning was “superabundance, excess”, used by Aristotle, the Stoic Chrysippus and Plutarch, who speaks of excesses of talk.^[4][3] The Septuagint gave it the sense “usury, unjust gain” in Leviticus and Ezekiel, and in the papyri it is a financial surplus.^[4][6] Polybius used it for treating a topic at excessive length.^[2][3]

In rhetoric and grammar, from Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Apollonius Dyscolus on, it became the technical name of the use of more words than the sense needs, the figure of pleonasm, and Dionysius also used it for the lengthening of clauses, opposed to shortening.^[4][3] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for a surplus and for an excessive secretion of bile.^[7] In Modern Greek πλεονασμός (pleonasmós) is a learned word, the grammatical figure and the state of being in excess.^[8][9] English pleonasm came from it through Late Latin pleonasmus in the 1580s.^[10]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for an excess of moisture or of bodily parts.^[4][11]
• 3rd century BC – Chrysippus uses it of excess.^[4][11]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of over-long treatment of a subject.^[2][3][11]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it for redundant words and for the lengthening of clauses.^[4][11]
• 2nd century AD – Apollonius Dyscolus uses it as a grammatical term, and a papyrus uses it for a surplus.^[4][11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a surplus and for an excess of bile.^[7]
• 1580s – English borrows it, through Late Latin, as pleonasm.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Superabundance, excess.^[4][3]
2. A surplus.^[4]
3. (Septuagint) Usury, unjust gain.^[4][6]
4. Excessive or repeated treatment of a topic by a writer; amplification.^[2][3]
5. (rhetoric, grammar) The use of redundant words, pleonasm.^[4][3]
6. (rhetoric) The lengthening of clauses; repetition.^[4]

Related words

• πλεονάζω (pleonázō)
• Latin pleonasmus
• English pleonasm

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge