γέρων

See also: γερών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *géronts, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵérh₂onts (“old”). Cognates include Sanskrit जरत् (járan, “old man”), Old Armenian ծերուն (cerun), and Irish géaraid (“champion”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡé.rɔːn/ → /ˈʝe.ron/ → /ˈʝe.ron/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡé.rɔːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɡe.ron/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈʝe.ron/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈʝe.ron/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈʝe.ron/

Noun

γέρων • (gérōn) m (genitive γέροντος); third declension

1. an old man
2. (in the plural) elders, i.e. a ruling or advisory council
3. (as an adjective) old

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ γέρων; τοῦ γέροντος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ γέρων ho gérōn	τὼ γέροντε tṑ géronte	οἱ γέροντες hoi gérontes
Genitive	τοῦ γέροντος toû gérontos	τοῖν γερόντοιν toîn geróntoin	τῶν γερόντων tôn geróntōn
Dative	τῷ γέροντῐ tôi gérontĭ	τοῖν γερόντοιν toîn geróntoin	τοῖς γέρουσῐ / γέρουσῐν toîs gérousĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν γέροντᾰ tòn gérontă	τὼ γέροντε tṑ géronte	τοὺς γέροντᾰς toùs gérontăs
Vocative	γέρον géron	γέροντε géronte	γέροντες gérontes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Coordinate terms

• γραῦς (graûs)

Derived terms

• ἠριγέρων (ērigérōn)
• νωδογέρων (nōdogérōn)

Descendants

• Greek: γέροντας (gérontas), γέρος (géros)
• → English: geronto-
• → French: géronto-
• → Italian: geronto-

Further reading

• “γέρων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γέρων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “γέρων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• γέρων 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
• γέρων in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• γέρων in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “γέρων”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1088 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• γέρων in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • dotard idem, page 248.
  • old idem, page 572.
  • old man idem, page 572.

Greek

Adjective

γέρων • (géron)

1. genitive masculine plural of γέρος (géros)

Noun

γέρων • (géron) m

1. genitive plural of γέρος (géros)