πλέθρον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πέλεθρον (pélethron)
• βλέθρον (bléthron)

Etymology

Uncertain. Typically has been compared with the root of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “I fill up”) (< Proto-Indo-European *pípleh₁mi) (cf. πλήθω (plḗthō) and πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s) (< *pléh₁-dʰeh₁-) +‎ -θρον (-thron), in which case it could be from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰrom, though long *ή (*ḗ) would be expected. However, the phonetic alternations in πέλεθρον (pélethron) and βλέθρον (bléthron) suggest a more complicated origin. According to Beekes, it is probably a loanword.

The word may be cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀤𐀩𐀴𐀍 (qe-re-ti-jo); if so, the original form must have begun with a labiovelar such as */kʷ/, rather than /p/ or /b/.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /plé.tʰron/ → /ˈple.θron/ → /ˈple.θron/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /plé.tʰron/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈple.tʰron/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈple.θron/

Noun

πλέθρον • (pléthron) n (genitive πλέθρου); second declension

1. (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of length equal to 100 Greek feet (podes)
2. (units of measure) a plethron (a unit of area equal to 10,000 square Greek feet (podes)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ πλέθρον; τοῦ πλέθρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron	τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō	τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra
Genitive	τοῦ πλέθρου toû pléthrou	τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin	τῶν πλέθρων tôn pléthrōn
Dative	τῷ πλέθρῳ tôi pléthrōi	τοῖν πλέθροιν toîn pléthroin	τοῖς πλέθροις toîs pléthrois
Accusative	τὸ πλέθρον tò pléthron	τὼ πλέθρω tṑ pléthrō	τᾰ̀ πλέθρᾰ tà pléthra
Vocative	πλέθρον pléthron	πλέθρω pléthrō	πλέθρᾰ pléthra
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → English: plethron
• → Italian: pletro

Further reading

• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πλέθρον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1205–1206
• “πλέθρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• πλέθρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • acre idem, page 9.
  • yard idem, page 995.