μάλιστα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Superlative of μάλα (mála, “very”), from μάλα +‎ -ιστα (-ista, superlative adverb suffix).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.lis.ta/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/

Adverb

μᾰ́λῐστᾰ • (málista)

most, most of all, above all
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.353
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 647
- 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1285
- 4th century BC, Isaeus, Menecles 20
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.22
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.40
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 590D
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 25
- 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 152
- 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 180B
- 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 617
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.53
- 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 448D
- 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 80B
- 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 218C
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.37
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 327A
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.86
- AD 254–270, Plotinus, Enneades 5.5.11
- AD 254–270, Plotinus, Enneades 6.2.7
1. (strengthened, preceded by ὡς or ὅτι)
  - 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 294
  - 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 460A
  - 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 524
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.185
  - 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 367B
  - 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 510B
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 277A
  - 360 BCE, Plato, The Sophist 239B
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.171
  - 110 CE – 180 CE, Pausanias Periegeta, Graeciae Descriptio 1.42.3
  - 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 3.35
2. (with the article) for the most part, mostly
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.20
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.104
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.6
  - 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 212
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.147
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.92
  - 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 62
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 794D
  - 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 95
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 2
  - 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 21
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.118
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.8
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Letters 2.24
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.90
  - 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 173B
  - 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, Various History 14.40
  - 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, Secret History 4
3. (added to a superlative)
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.220
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.334
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
  - 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 1421
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.55
4. (for μᾶλλον)
  - 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1594
  - 300 BCE – 250 BCE, Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.91
5. (in loose accounts of numbers, used to show that they are not exact)
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.29
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.92
  - 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 5.2.31
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.118
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.68
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.191
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.93
  - 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 175C
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.22
  - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 2.41.13
6. (καὶ μάλιστα, used in answers) most certainly
  - 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 827
  - 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 994
  - 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 253
  - 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 1531
  - 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 453D

Descendants

Greek: μάλιστα (málista)

References

“μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“μάλιστα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
μάλιστα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
μάλιστα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
G3122 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.
- about idem, page 2.
- best idem, page 75.
- chiefly idem, page 129.
- eminently idem, page 268.
- especially idem, page 282.
- just idem, page 466.
- largely idem, page 477.
- mainly idem, page 508.
- materially idem, page 517.
- most idem, page 542.
- nearly idem, page 553.
- notably idem, page 562.
- particularly idem, page 594.
- peculiarly idem, page 601.
- pre-eminently idem, page 634.
- principally idem, page 641.
- singularly idem, page 779.
- superlatively idem, page 839.
- yes idem, page 996.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μάλιστα (málista).

Adverb

μάλιστα • (málista)

especially, particularly, in particular
Synonyms: ειδικά (eidiká), ειδικότερα (eidikótera)

Τα λαχανικά και μάλιστα τα φρούτα είναι υγιεινές τροφές.
Ta lachaniká kai málista ta froúta eínai ygieinés trofés.
Vegetables and especially fruits are healthy foods.
even
Synonym: ακόμα (akóma)

Αυτό το κρασί είναι μάλιστα πιο εξαιρετικό.
Aftó to krasí eínai málista pio exairetikó.
This wine is even more excellent.

Interjection

μάλιστα • (málista)

yes, certainly, OK, of course, right you are, okey-dokey (acknowledging that a request has been heard and understood)

Coordinate terms

ναι (nai, “yes”)
όχι (óchi, “no”)
εντάξει (entáxei, “OK”)