Εἵλως

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Εἱλώτης (Heilṓtēs)

Etymology

Perhaps from ἁλίσκομαι (halískomai, “to be captured, to be made prisoner”), but it has also been linked to Ἕλος (Hélos), a Laconian town whose inhabitants were enslaved.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hěː.lɔːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)i.los/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.los/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.los/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.los/

Noun

Εἵλως • (Heílōs) m (genitive Εἵλωτος); third declension

a helot

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ Εἵλως; τοῦ Εἵλωτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Εἵλως ho Heílōs	τὼ Εἵλωτε tṑ Heílōte	οἱ Εἵλωτες hoi Heílōtes
Genitive	τοῦ Εἵλωτος toû Heílōtos	τοῖν Εἱλώτοιν toîn Heilṓtoin	τῶν Εἱλώτων tôn Heilṓtōn
Dative	τῷ Εἵλωτῐ tōî Heílōtĭ	τοῖν Εἱλώτοιν toîn Heilṓtoin	τοῖς Εἵλωσῐ / Εἵλωσῐν toîs Heílōsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν Εἵλωτᾰ tòn Heílōtă	τὼ Εἵλωτε tṑ Heílōte	τοὺς Εἵλωτᾰς toùs Heílōtăs
Vocative	Εἵλως Heílōs	Εἵλωτε Heílōte	Εἵλωτες Heílōtes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Derived terms

Εἱλωτικός (Heilōtikós)

Descendants

English: helot
Greek: Είλως (Eílos), Είλωτας (Eílotas)
Russian: ило́т (ilót)

References

“Εἵλως”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“Εἵλως”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
Εἵλως in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,012