πληγή

Forms

πληγή (plēgḗ) f (genitive πληγῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *plāgā́,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂géh₂, a noun built on the root *pleh₂g- (“to strike”).^[1][2] Within Greek it is the action noun of πλήσσω (plḗssō, “to strike”), and the Doric form is πλαγά (plagá).^[2][3][4] Beekes takes the root to end in ⟨g⟩, as the noun shows, and thinks that the ⟨k⟩ in the verb arose later.^[2] Πάπυρος places it in the zero grade of the same root as the verb, extended with a voiced velar.^[5]

Cognate with Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), plangō (“to beat (the breast), lament”) and Old English flōcan (“to clap”).^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is Homeric and means a blow: the Iliad has the phrase πεπληγὼν πληγῇσιν, “striking with blows” (2.264).^[4][7] The Iliad also uses it for a blow sent by a god, as when Patroclus is overcome by the god's blow and a spear (16.816).^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is any blow: of a fist, stick or missile, of a sword or a warship's ram, and the stroke of a whip on animals or on people who were flogged.^[3][4] It was used for the blows of mourners on breast and head, for the beat of a dancer's foot, for coming to blows in a fight, and for the stroke of lightning, the buffeting of waves and the lashing of wind.^[3] Plato uses it for the impact of a sound on the ears.^[3] Figuratively it is a blow of fortune, often sent by a god, in tragedy, Aristotle and Polybius.^[3][4]

The Septuagint uses it for a blow, a wound, a stroke of misfortune and the plagues of Egypt.^[9] The New Testament has the same range of blows, wounds and plagues sent as punishment.^[10][11]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a blow or a wound, also figuratively, with the phrase δίδω πληγήν, “to wound”.^[12] In Modern Greek πληγή (pligí) is above all a wound or sore, and figuratively a calamity.^[13][5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for blows and for a blow sent by a god.^[4][3][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it, in its Doric form, of the blows of weapons and of a shipwright's tools.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of flogging, and Herodotus also of coming to blows.^[3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the impact of sound on the ears.^[3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it figuratively for a blow of fortune.^[3][14]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses it for a blow or a wound.^[12]
• Modern Greek – The word survives, chiefly meaning a wound or sore.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blow or stroke, of a fist, stick, weapon or missile.^[4][3]
2. A stroke of the whip, in driving animals or in flogging.^[3][4]
3. The beating of a mourner's hand on breast or head; the beat of a dancer's foot.^[3]
4. Coming to blows, a fight with fists or clubs.^[3]
5. A stroke of lightning; the buffeting of waves, the lashing of wind.^[3]
6. The impact of a sound on the ears.^[3]
7. (figurative) A blow of misfortune, often one sent by a god.^[3][4]
8. A wound.^[9][10]
9. (Septuagint, New Testament) A plague, such as the plagues of Egypt.^[9][11]

Related words

• πλήσσω (plḗssō)
• πλῆγμα (plêgma)
• πλῆκτρον (plêktron)
• Latin plāga

Usage notes

It often stands as an internal accusative beside verbs of striking, and it can be left out when a feminine adjective remains: Aeschylus writes τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι, “I add a third (blow)” (Agamemnon 1386).^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge