ἔλεγος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A Phrygian origin was considered by Hommel. However, Beekes prefers a Pre-Greek origin. Has also been compared to Old Armenian եղէգն (ełēgn, “reed”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /é.le.ɡos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈe.le.ɡos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.le.ɣos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.le.ɣos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.le.ɣos/

Noun

ἔλεγος • (élegos) m (genitive ἐλέγου); second declension

mourning song accompanied by a flute

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ἔλεγος; τοῦ ἐλέγου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἔλεγος ho élegos	τὼ ἐλέγω tṑ elégō	οἱ ἔλεγοι hoi élegoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἐλέγου toû elégou	τοῖν ἐλέγοιν toîn elégoin	τῶν ἐλέγων tôn elégōn
Dative	τῷ ἐλέγῳ tôi elégōi	τοῖν ἐλέγοιν toîn elégoin	τοῖς ἐλέγοις toîs elégois
Accusative	τὸν ἔλεγον tòn élegon	τὼ ἐλέγω tṑ elégō	τοὺς ἐλέγους toùs elégous
Vocative	ἔλεγε élege	ἐλέγω elégō	ἔλεγοι élegoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἐλεγείᾱ (elegeíā)
ἐλεγεῖον (elegeîon)
ἐλεγῐ́ᾰμβος (elegíambos)
ἐλεγῖνος (elegînos)

“ἔλεγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἔλεγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ἔλεγος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἔλεγος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἔλεγος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 404