ψιλότης

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ψῑλός (psīlós) +‎ -της (-tēs).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /psiː.ló.tɛːs/ → /psiˈlo.tis/ → /psiˈlo.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /psiː.ló.tɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /psiˈlo.te̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /psiˈlo.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /psiˈlo.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /psiˈlo.tis/

Noun

ψῑλότης • (psīlótēs) f (genitive ψῑλότητος); third declension

1. bareness

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hippocrates to this entry?)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Plutarch to this entry?)

   1. baldness
      • (Can we find and add a quotation of Plutarch to this entry?)
      • (Can we find and add a quotation of Artemidorus to this entry?)
   2. (of a woman’s body) smoothness

      (Can we find and add a quotation of Plutarch to this entry?)

      (Can we find and add a quotation of Aristotle to this entry?)

2. tenuity

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Aristotle to this entry?)

   • late 1st C. BC, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Περὶ Συνθέσεως Ὀνομάτων in The Critical Essays II (LCL 466, 1985), ch. xiv, ¶ 6 (p. 102, ll. 13–15):

     μία μὲν αὕτη συζυγία τριῶν γραμμάτων ἀφώνων ὁμοίῳ σχήματι λεγομένων, ψιλότητι δὲ καὶ δασύτητι διαφερόντων.

     mía mèn haútē suzugía triôn grammátōn aphṓnōn homoíōi skhḗmati legoménōn, psilótēti dè kaì dasútēti diapheróntōn.

     This is one group of voiceless letters, all three letters being pronounced with a similar configuration ⟨of the mouth⟩, but differing in smoothness and roughness. ― translation from: Stephen Usher, op. cit. LCL 466 (1985), ch. xiv, ¶ 6, p. 103, ll. 13–16

   1. psile
      • 146–117 BC, Polybius (aut.), Ludwig Dindorf (Ludovicus Dindorfius) and Theodorus Büttner-Wobst (eds.), Ἱστορίαι III (1893), bk X, ch. xlvii, §§ 9–10 (p. 122, ll. 13–19):

        διόπερ ὅταν ἀνεπιστάτως θεωρῇ τὸ παιδάριον ὑπὸ τὴν ἀναπνοὴν ἑπτὰ καὶ πέντε στίχους συνεῖρον, οὐκ ἂν εὐχερῶς δύναιτο πιστεῦσαι διότι πρότερον οὗτος οὐκ ἀνέγνωκε τὸ βυβλίον· εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ὑπόκρισιν καὶ τὰς διαιρέσεις, ἔτι δὲ δασύτητας καὶ ψιλότητας δύναιτο συσσῴζειν, οὐδὲ τελέως.

        dióper hótan anepistátōs theōrêi tò paidárion hupò tḕn anapnoḕn heptà kaì pénte stíkhous suneîron, ouk àn eukherôs dúnaito pisteûsai dióti próteron hoûtos ouk anégnōke tò bublíon; ei dè kaì tḕn hupókrisin kaì tàs diairéseis, éti dè dasútētas kaì psilótētas dúnaito sussṓizein, oudè teléōs.

        Therefore when he sees the boy, without a pause for thought, reading off seven or five lines at a breath, he will not easily be induced to believe that he has not read the book before; and certainly not, if he is able also to observe the appropriate enunciation, the proper separations of the words, and the correct use of the rough and smooth breathings. ― translation from: E.S. Shuckburgh, The Histories of Polybius (1889), bk X, ch. xlvii

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ψῑλότης; τῆς ψῑλότητος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ψῑλότης hē psīlótēs	τὼ ψῑλότητε tṑ psīlótēte	αἱ ψῑλότητες hai psīlótētes
Genitive	τῆς ψῑλότητος tês psīlótētos	τοῖν ψῑλοτήτοιν toîn psīlotḗtoin	τῶν ψῑλοτήτων tôn psīlotḗtōn
Dative	τῇ ψῑλότητῐ têi psīlótēti	τοῖν ψῑλοτήτοιν toîn psīlotḗtoin	ταῖς ψῑλότησῐ / ψῑλότησῐν taîs psīlótēsi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ψῑλότητᾰ tḕn psīlótēta	τὼ ψῑλότητε tṑ psīlótēte	τᾱ̀ς ψῑλότητᾰς tā̀s psīlótētas
Vocative	ψῑλότης psīlótēs	ψῑλότητε psīlótēte	ψῑλότητες psīlótētes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “[of a woman’s body] smoothness”): δασύτης (dasútēs), τραχύτης (trakhútēs)
• (antonym(s) of “tenuity”): δασύτης (dasútēs)

References

• “ψῑλότης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ψιλότης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ψιλότης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette