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πλῆθος

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word πλῆθος

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /plɛ̂ː.tʰos/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈpli.θos/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈpli.θos/[1]

Forms

πλῆθος (plêthos) n (genitive πλήθεος or πλήθους); third declension[1] Doric and Arcadian πλῆθος, Boeotian πλεῖθος, and a pseudo-dialectal πλᾶθος in late Doric and Aeolic texts.[2]

Etymology

It is probably formed from Ancient Greek πλήθω (plḗthō, “to be full”) + -ος (-os).[1] The verb belongs with πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “to fill”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”).[3][4] Beekes counts the suffix -θ- of πλῆθος, πλήθω and the perfect πέπληθα (péplētha) among young formations, matched by βρῖθος (brîthos), βρίθω (bríthō) and βέβριθα (bébritha).[3][1]

Older formations of the same root are πλήρης (plḗrēs, “full”) and πληθύς (plēthús, “multitude”), the latter comparable with Latin plēbs.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it once, in the Iliad, of numerical strength, the superior numbers of an army.[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

From Tyrtaeus, Theognis and Pindar on it is the ordinary word for a great number or multitude of people or things.[5][6] With the article it meant the greater part or majority, and then the common people, the populace, and in Attic prose the popular assembly.[5][2] Polybius uses it for the Roman plebs.[5] It also served for a large amount of money or trouble, a great volume of water, a great length of time and, in calculations, a quantity or number.[5]

In the New Testament, above all in Luke and Acts, it means a great number of things or a crowd of people.[7] The word lived on in Medieval Greek and is still used as Modern Greek πλήθος (plíthos).[8][9][10]

Timeline

  • 700s BC – The Iliad uses it once, of superior numbers.[5][6]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis uses it of a great number.[5][6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of the majority and of the common people.[5][2]
  • 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the Roman plebs.[5]
  • 1st century AD – Luke and Acts use it for a crowd.[7]
  • Modern Greek – πλήθος (plíthos) continues the ancient word.[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A great number, multitude, mass of persons or things.[5][2]
  2. (with the article) The greater part, majority.[5][2]
  3. (with the article) The common people, populace; the popular assembly; the Roman plebs.[5]
  4. Numerical strength, superior numbers.[5]
  5. A large amount, a great volume; a great length of time.[5]
  6. (mathematics) A quantity, number.[5]
  7. (Koine) A crowd, throng.[7]

Usage notes

Ammonius distinguishes πλῆθος, a body made up of individuals, from ὄχλος (ókhlos), which properly means the disturbance a crowd causes.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c 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
  4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  11. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
Cite this entry

“Πλῆθος.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CF%80%CE%BB%E1%BF%86%CE%B8%CE%BF%CF%82. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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