πλατύς Ancient Greek · revision 15420

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *pleth₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pla.týs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /plaˈtys/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /plaˈtys/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''πλᾰτῠ́ς''' (platús) ''m'' (feminine πλᾰτεῖᾰ, neuter πλᾰτῠ́); first/third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*plətús]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pléth₂us]], from [[m|ine-pro|*pleth₂-|t=flat]].^(Wiktionary) It is directly identical with [[sa|पृथु|tr=pṛthú|t=wide, broad]] and [[ae|pərəθu-|tr=pərəθu-|t=wide]];^(Frisk 1960) [[lt|platùs|t=wide]] belongs here too.^(NIL 2008)

+

+ The noun [[m|grc|πλάτος|tr=plátos|t=width]] stands beside it as [[m|grc|βάρος|tr=báros]] does beside [[m|grc|βαρύς|tr=barús]].^(Frisk 1960) The town name [[m|grc|Πλάταια|tr=Plátaia]] has been compared with [[m|sa|पृथिवी|tr=pṛthivī́|t=earth, the broad one]].^(Frisk 1960)^(NIL 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it for broad things such as a shoulder-strap (''Iliad'' 5.796) and a winnowing-fan (''Iliad'' 13.588), for wide-ranging herds of goats (''Iliad'' 2.474), and for the broad Hellespont.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus and Xenophon use it for flat, level land, and in Plato's ''Phaedo'' Socrates asks whether the earth is flat or round.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Of people it meant broad-shouldered, burly (Sophocles, Theocritus), and figuratively wide in scope.^(CGL 2021) The feminine [[πλατεῖα|tr=plateîa]] used as a noun meant a street or highway (Polybius, the New Testament, Plutarch), and in Aristophanes the flat of the hand.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ The word survives in Modern Greek ''πλατύς'' “wide” and in Mariupol Greek;^(Wiktionary)^(Triantafyllidis 1998) medieval and Modern Greek ''πλατεία'' is a town square.^(Kriaras)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for broad objects and wide-ranging herds.^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for flat land.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts a flat earth with a round one.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the feminine for a street.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * Modern Greek – ''πλατύς'' still means wide.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|wide|alt=Wide]], [[m|en|broad]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # [[m|en|flat|alt=Flat]], level.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Of a person: broad-shouldered, [[m|en|burly]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Extending over a large area, wide-ranging.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Wide in scope.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(feminine)'' A [[m|en|street]], highway; the flat of the hand.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[πλάτη|tr=plátē]]

+ * [[πλατεῖα|tr=plateîa]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate πλατύς “salty” occurs in Herodotus (2.108) and Aristotle;^(Beekes 2010) Beekes and Frisk explain it as a misunderstanding of Homer's “broad Hellespont” as the “salty Hellespont”, since “broad” seemed an odd epithet for a strait.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}