πλέθρον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

πέλεθρον (pélethron)
βλέθρον (bléthron)

Etymology

Uncertain. Typically has been compared with the root of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “I fill up”) (< Proto-Indo-European *pípleh₁mi) (cf. πλήθω (plḗthō) and πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s) (< *pléh₁-dʰeh₁-) +‎ -θρον (-thron), in which case it could be from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰrom, though long *ή (*ḗ) would be expected. However, the phonetic alternations in πέλεθρον (pélethron) and βλέθρον (bléthron) suggest a more complicated origin. According to Beekes, it is probably a loanword.

The word may be cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀤𐀩𐀴𐀪𐀍 (qe-re-ti-ri-jo, in context a dual nominative noun of uncertain meaning), if the Mycenaean word is not related to βλῆτρον (blêtron, “fastening band”) instead.^[1] If so, the original form must have begun with a labiovelar such as */kʷ/, rather than /p/ or /b/.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /plé.tʰron/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈple.tʰron/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/

Noun

πλέθρον • (pléthron) n (genitive πλέθρου); second declension

(units of measure) a plethron (a unit of length equal to 100 Greek feet (podes)
(units of measure) a plethron (a unit of area equal to 10,000 square Greek feet (podes)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ πλέθρον; τοῦ πλέθρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron	τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō	τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tằ pléthră
Genitive	τοῦ πλέθρου toû pléthrou	τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin	τῶν πλέθρων tôn pléthrōn
Dative	τῷ πλέθρῳ tōî pléthrōi	τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin	τοῖς πλέθροις toîs pléthrois
Accusative	τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron	τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō	τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tằ pléthră
Vocative	πλέθρον pléthron	πλέθρω pléthrō	πλέθρᾰ pléthră
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

πλεθριαῖος (plethriaîos)

Descendants

→ English: plethron
→ Italian: pletro

Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πλέθρον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1205–1206
“πλέθρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
πλέθρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- acre idem, page 9.
- yard idem, page 995.

[1] Aura Jorro, Francisco, Adrados, Francisco (1993) Diccionario Griego-Español, anejo II, Diccionario Micénico, volumen II (overall work in Spanish), Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, pages 197-198

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