εἰλικρινής

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• εἱλικρινής (heilikrinḗs)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

Traditionally derived as a compound of εἵλη (heílē, “heat or warmth of the sun”) +‎ κρίνω (krínō, “to separate, distinguish”) +‎ -ης (-ēs, “adjectival suffix”), thus "distinguished in or by the sun". However, this interpretation makes little sense when using εἵλη (heílē)'s basic sense of "heat of the sun"; thus, a secondary meaning of "sunlight" is apparently invoked. However, as Beekes notes, such a meaning has only been attested for the Doric variant ϝέλα (wéla) and is relatively recent, making the etymology more tenuous.

Other theories connecting the first element of the word to εἰλέω (eiléō) in either the "turn, wind" or "press together" senses are semantically difficult.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /eː.li.kri.nɛ̌ːs/ → /i.li.kriˈnis/ → /i.li.kriˈnis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /eː.li.kri.nɛ̌ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /i.li.kriˈne̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /i.li.kriˈnis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /i.li.kriˈnis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.li.kriˈnis/

Adjective

εἰλικρῐνής • (eilikrinḗs) m or f (neuter εἰλικρῐνές); third declension

1. pure, absolute, genuine, unmixed
2. (figuratively) pure, clean, honest

Declension

Third declension of εἰλῐκρῐνής; εἰλῐκρῐνές (contracted, Attic)

Number		Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		εἰλῐκρῐνής eilikrinḗs	εἰλῐκρῐνές eilikrinés		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî	εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖς eilikrineîs	εἰλῐκρῐνῆ eilikrinê
Genitive		εἰλῐκρῐνοῦς eilikrinoûs	εἰλῐκρῐνοῦς eilikrinoûs		εἰλῐκρῐνοῖν eilikrinoîn	εἰλῐκρῐνοῖν eilikrinoîn		εἰλῐκρῐνῶν eilikrinôn	εἰλῐκρῐνῶν eilikrinôn
Dative		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî	εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî		εἰλῐκρῐνοῖν eilikrinoîn	εἰλῐκρῐνοῖν eilikrinoîn		εἰλῐκρῐνέσῐ / εἰλῐκρῐνέσῐν eilikrinési(n)	εἰλῐκρῐνέσῐ / εἰλῐκρῐνέσῐν eilikrinési(n)
Accusative		εἰλῐκρῐνῆ eilikrinê	εἰλῐκρῐνές eilikrinés		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî	εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖς eilikrineîs	εἰλῐκρῐνῆ eilikrinê
Vocative		εἰλῐκρῐνές eilikrinés	εἰλῐκρῐνές eilikrinés		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî	εἰλῐκρῐνεῖ eilikrineî		εἰλῐκρῐνεῖς eilikrineîs	εἰλῐκρῐνῆ eilikrinê
Derived forms		Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
		εἰλῐκρῐνῶς eilikrinôs			εἰλῐκρῐνέστερος eilikrinésteros			εἰλῐκρῐνέστᾰτος eilikrinéstatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• εἰλικρίνεια (eilikríneia, “purity”)
• εἰλικρινέω (eilikrinéō, “to purify”)

Descendants

• Greek: ειλικρινής (eilikrinís)

Further reading

• “εἰλικρινής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “εἰλικρινής”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “εἰλικρινής”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• εἰλικρινής 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
• εἰλικρινής in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “εἰλικρινής”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3022 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.
  • absolute idem, page 4.
  • entire idem, page 277.
  • plain idem, page 616.
  • pure idem, page 658.
  • rank idem, page 671.
  • sheer idem, page 764.
  • simple idem, page 776.
  • stark idem, page 811.
  • unadulterated idem, page 906.
  • undiluted idem, page 914.
  • unmitigated idem, page 926.
• “εἰλικρινής”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011