λίθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Has been compared to λεῖος (leîos, “smooth”), λιτός (litós, “simple, plain”), Latin laedō (“to strike, hurt”), and Lithuanian slidùs (“slippery, slick”). Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin, noting that words for "stone" are often taken from a substrate language.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lí.tʰos/ → /ˈli.θos/ → /ˈli.θos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lí.tʰos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈli.tʰos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/

Noun

λῐ́θος • (líthos) m (genitive λῐ́θου); second declension

1. a stone

   Synonym: πέτρος (pétros)

2. stone as a substance

   Synonym: πέτρα (pétra)

3. stone, pebble (used as as piece in a board-game)
4. large rock or stone block, used as a seat to a speaker's platform, especially in the Assembly or in the Athenian agora, where archons, arbitrators and certain witnesses swore oaths

Usage notes

Λίθος is sometimes used as a feminine noun. This often (but not always) is used to refer to some special stone, such as a gem or magnet.

Declension

Second declension of ὁ, ἡ λῐ́θος; τοῦ, τῆς λῐ́θου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ λῐ́θος ho, hē líthos	τὼ λῐ́θω tṑ líthō	οἱ, αἱ λῐ́θοι hoi, hai líthoi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς λῐ́θου toû, tês líthou	τοῖν λῐ́θοιν toîn líthoin	τῶν λῐ́θων tôn líthōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ λῐ́θῳ tôi, têi líthōi	τοῖν λῐ́θοιν toîn líthoin	τοῖς, ταῖς λῐ́θοις toîs, taîs líthois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν λῐ́θον tòn, tḕn líthon	τὼ λῐ́θω tṑ líthō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς λῐ́θους toùs, tā̀s líthous
Vocative	λῐ́θε líthe	λῐ́θω líthō	λῐ́θοι líthoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• λιθάργυρος (lithárguros)
• λιθουργός (lithourgós)
• μονόλιθος (monólithos)
• λίθινος (líthinos)
• λιθωτός (lithōtós)

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: liti (learned)
• → English: -lite
• → English: -lith
• → English: lith-, litho-
• → Georgian: ლითონი (litoni)
• →⇒ New Latin: lithium (see there for further descendants)
  • English: lithium

Further reading

• “λίθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “λίθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “λίθος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• λίθος 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
• λίθος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “λίθος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3037 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.
  • boulder idem, page 90.
  • crag idem, page 182.
  • gem idem, page 355.
  • jewel idem, page 463.
  • pebble idem, page 601.
  • precious idem, page 634.
  • rock idem, page 719.
  • stone idem, page 819.
  • touch-stone idem, page 884.
  • trinket idem, page 895.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• “λίθος”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

Learnedly, from Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos), masculine (also feminine).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/
• Hyphenation: λί‧θος

Noun

λίθος • (líthos) m or f (plural λίθοι)

1. masculine form:
   1. stone (building material)

      ο θεμέλιος λίθος ― o themélios líthos ― the foundation stone

   2. (medicine, formal) stone, calculus
   3. (archaeology) Εποχή του Λίθου (“Stone Age”)
2. feminine form (in phrases): special "stones":
   1. λυδία λίθος (“touch stone”)
   2. φιλοσοφική λίθος (“philosopher's stone”)

Declension

Declension of λίθος

	singular	plural
nominative	λίθος (líthos)	λίθοι (líthoi)
genitive	λίθου (líthou)	λίθων (líthon)
accusative	λίθο (lítho)	λίθους (líthous)
vocative	λίθε (líthe)	λίθοι (líthoi)

Synonyms

• (rock, medicine): πέτρα f (pétra, “stone”)
• (rock): βράχος m (vráchos, “stone”)

Coordinate terms

• βράχος m (vráchos, “rock”)
• πέτρα f (pétra, “rock”)

 

Related terms

Expressions

• ακρογωνιαίος λίθος m (akrogoniaíos líthos, “cornerstone”)
• ημιπολύτιμος λίθος m (imipolýtimos líthos)
• κινώ πάντα λίθον (kinó pánta líthon)
• λίθοι, πλίνθοι και κέραμοι ατάκτως ερριμένα (líthoi, plínthoi kai kéramoi atáktos erriména)
  ancient: λίθοι καὶ πλίνθοι καὶ ξύλα καὶ κέραμος ἀτάκτως ἐρριμμένα (líthoi kaì plínthoi kaì xúla kaì kéramos atáktōs errhimména)
• θεμέλιος λίθος m (themélios líthos)
• πολύτιμος λίθος m (polýtimos líthos)

Derivatives and compounds

• απολίθωμα n (apolíthoma, “fossil”)
• ασβεστόλιθος m (asvestólithos, “limestone”)
• λιθίαση f (lithíasi)
• λιθικός (lithikós)
• λίθινος f (líthinos)
• λιθογραφία f (lithografía, “lithograph, lithography”)
• λιθόκτιστος (lithóktistos)
• λιθοξόος m (lithoxóos)
• λιθόστρωτο n (lithóstroto, “cobblestone”)
• λιθοτριψία f (lithotripsía)
• λιθόσφαιρα f (lithósfaira, “lithosphere”)
• λιθώδης f (lithódis)
• μονόλιθος m (monólithos)
• σφραγιδόλιθος m (sfragidólithos)
• σχιστόλιθος m (schistólithos)

Further reading

• λίθος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el
• λίθος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language