βλίτον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βλῆτον (blêton)

Etymology

Unknown. Not related as *μλίτον (*mlíton) to μύλη (múlē, “mill”) and ἀμαλδύνω (amaldúnō, “to soften, mitigate”). Perhaps cognate to Albanian lëpjetë (“sorrel”). Also compare the cognates listed at Proto-Slavic *loboda (“goosefoot”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /blí.ton/ → /ˈβli.ton/ → /ˈvli.ton/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /blí.ton/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbli.ton/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβli.ton/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈvli.ton/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈvli.ton/

Noun

βλῐ́τον • (blíton) n (genitive βλῐ́του); second declension

1. purple amaranth (Amaranthus blitum)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ βλῐ́τον; τοῦ βλῐ́του (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ βλῐ́τον tò blíton	τὼ βλῐ́τω tṑ blítō	τᾰ̀ βλῐ́τᾰ tà blíta
Genitive	τοῦ βλῐ́του toû blítou	τοῖν βλῐ́τοιν toîn blítoin	τῶν βλῐ́των tôn blítōn
Dative	τῷ βλῐ́τῳ tôi blítōi	τοῖν βλῐ́τοιν toîn blítoin	τοῖς βλῐ́τοις toîs blítois
Accusative	τὸ βλῐ́τον tò blíton	τὼ βλῐ́τω tṑ blítō	τᾰ̀ βλῐ́τᾰ tà blíta
Vocative	βλῐ́τον blíton	βλῐ́τω blítō	βλῐ́τᾰ blíta
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: βλίτο (vlíto)
• → Latin: blitum
  • Catalan: bleda (partially)
  • English: blite
  • French: blette (partially)
  • Spanish: bledo
  • Galician: beldro, beldrogo
  • Old Occitan: blet
    • Catalan: blet
    • Occitan: blet
    • → Hebrew: בליטץ
  • Sicilian: jiti
• → Middle Armenian: վլիտոն (vliton)

Further reading

• “βλίτον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βλίτον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βλίτον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βλίτον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 222