βλίτον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βλῆτον (blêton)

Etymology

Unknown. Not related as *μλίτον (*mlíton) to either μύλη (múlē, “mill”) or 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 • (blĭ́ton) 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 blĭ́ton	τὼ βλῐ́τω tṑ blĭ́tō	τᾰ̀ βλῐ́τᾰ tằ blĭ́tă
Genitive	τοῦ βλῐ́του toû blĭ́tou	τοῖν βλῐ́τοιν toîn blĭ́toin	τῶν βλῐ́των tôn blĭ́tōn
Dative	τῷ βλῐ́τῳ tôi blĭ́tōi	τοῖν βλῐ́τοιν toîn blĭ́toin	τοῖς βλῐ́τοις toîs blĭ́tois
Accusative	τὸ βλῐ́τον tò blĭ́ton	τὼ βλῐ́τω tṑ blĭ́tō	τᾰ̀ βλῐ́τᾰ tằ blĭ́tă
Vocative	βλῐ́τον blĭ́ton	βλῐ́τω blĭ́tō	βλῐ́τᾰ blĭ́tă
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 (2006–2025)