τέλος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kʷélos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷél-os ~ *kʷél-es-. See Latin colō for more.

Similar to τέλλω (téllō), τέλος (télos) may come from three roots, Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (to turn, completion), *kʷel- (to swarm, crowd) and *telh₂- (to bear, burden).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Noun

τέλος • (télosn (genitive τέλους or τέλεος); third declension

  1. aim, purpose, end goal, design, final cause – as used by Aristotle and the philosophers; cf. teleology
  2. completion, maturity, accomplishment, fulfillment, perfection, consummation
  3. result, product
  4. end
  5. end of life: death
  6. boundary, border, extremity
  7. supreme power
  8. the highest government office: magistrate
  9. that which is ordered to be done: task, duty
  10. money paid to the government: tax, toll
  11. a person's property, according to which he was classed
  12. thus, generally: rank, class
  13. unit of soldiers: legion, company
  14. initiation (especially into mystery religions)
  15. mystery religion
  16. any religious ceremony

Declension

Derived terms

  • -τελής (-telḗs)
    Category Ancient Greek terms prefixed with -τελής not found

expressions:

  • τέλη λύειν (télē lúein, pay one's dues)

Descendants

  • Greek: τέλος (télos)
  • English: telos
  • English: teleology

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τέλος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1463-4

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek τέλος (télos). Sense "tax, dues", learnedly from Ancient Greek τέλος (télos).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈte.los/
  • Hyphenation: τέ‧λος

Noun

τέλος • (télosn (plural τέλη)

  1. end, finish
    Θα έρθω στο τέλος του μήνα.Tha értho sto télos tou mína.I will come at the end of the month.
    το τέλος του κόσμουto télos tou kósmouthe end of the world
  2. tax, dues paid to the government for specific public service, or product
    τέλος ακίνητης περιουσίας (ΤΑΠ)télos akínitis periousías (TAP)tax of real estate

Declension

Declension of τέλος
singular plural
nominative τέλος (télos) τέλη (téli)
genitive τέλους (télous) τελών (telón)
accusative τέλος (télos) τέλη (téli)
vocative τέλος (télos) τέλη (téli)

See also

References


Further reading