ὀλίγος

See also: ολίγος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὀλῐ́ος (olĭ́os) — Later poetic
𐠃𐠑𐠿𐠚 (o-li-kso-ne) — Cypriot

Etymology

Probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₃ligos (“indigent, small, needy, ill”). Compare Old Armenian աղքատ (ałkʻat, “poor, indigent”), Old Irish líach (“wretched”), Old Prussian licuts (“small”). See also λοιγός (loigós, “destruction, ruin”) and Albanian lig (“evil, bad”), whose proto-forms are almost if not identical, but which Beekes considers etymologically separate.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.lí.ɡos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɡos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/

Adjective

ὀλῐ́γος • (olĭ́gos) m (feminine ὀλῐ́γη, neuter ὀλῐ́γον); first/second declension

Of small amount: few, little
Of small size: little, small
Of small degree: slight

Declension

First and second declension of ὀλῐ́γος; ὀλῐ́γη; ὀλῐ́γον (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ὀλῐ́γος olĭ́gos	ὀλῐ́γη olĭ́gē	ὀλῐ́γον olĭ́gon	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olĭ́gā	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γοι olĭ́goi	ὀλῐ́γαι olĭ́gai	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olĭ́gă
Genitive	ὀλῐ́γου olĭ́gou	ὀλῐ́γης olĭ́gēs	ὀλῐ́γου olĭ́gou	ὀλῐ́γοιν olĭ́goin	ὀλῐ́γαιν olĭ́gain	ὀλῐ́γοιν olĭ́goin	ὀλῐ́γων olĭ́gōn	ὀλῐ́γων olĭ́gōn	ὀλῐ́γων olĭ́gōn
Dative	ὀλῐ́γῳ olĭ́gōi	ὀλῐ́γῃ olĭ́gēi	ὀλῐ́γῳ olĭ́gōi	ὀλῐ́γοιν olĭ́goin	ὀλῐ́γαιν olĭ́gain	ὀλῐ́γοιν olĭ́goin	ὀλῐ́γοις olĭ́gois	ὀλῐ́γαις olĭ́gais	ὀλῐ́γοις olĭ́gois
Accusative	ὀλῐ́γον olĭ́gon	ὀλῐ́γην olĭ́gēn	ὀλῐ́γον olĭ́gon	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olĭ́gā	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γους olĭ́gous	ὀλῐ́γᾱς olĭ́gās	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olĭ́gă
Vocative	ὀλῐ́γε olĭ́ge	ὀλῐ́γη olĭ́gē	ὀλῐ́γον olĭ́gon	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olĭ́gā	ὀλῐ́γω olĭ́gō	ὀλῐ́γοι olĭ́goi	ὀλῐ́γαι olĭ́gai	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olĭ́gă
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	ὀλῐ́γως olĭ́gōs			ὀλῐγώτερος olĭgṓteros			ὀλῐγώτᾰτος olĭgṓtătos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Antonyms

πολύς (polús)

Derived terms

ὀλῐγᾰ́ρχης (olĭgắrkhēs)
ὀλῐγόθερμος (olĭgóthermos)
ὀλῐγόπῐστος (olĭgópĭstos)
ὀλῐγότροφος (olĭgótrophos)

Descendants

English: oligo-
Greek: λίγος (lígos)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὀλίγος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1068

“ὀλίγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ὀλίγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ὀλίγος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ὀλίγος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ὀλίγος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“ὀλίγος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G3641 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- brief idem, page 98.
- distant idem, page 240.
- faint idem, page 302.
- few idem, page 317.
- insignificant idem, page 445.
- jejune idem, page 462.
- languid idem, page 475.
- limited idem, page 492.
- little idem, page 495.
- meagre idem, page 519.
- petty idem, page 609.
- remote idem, page 694.
- scant idem, page 737.
- short idem, page 768.
- slack idem, page 782.
- slender idem, page 783.
- slight idem, page 784.
- small idem, page 786.
- trifling idem, page 895.
- trivial idem, page 896.
- weak idem, page 969.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὀλίγος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1068

[1]