ἔλλειψις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

ἐλλείπω (elleípō, “to fall short, omit”) +‎ -σις (-sis, verbal noun suffix), the former from ἐν- (en-) +‎ λείπω (leípō, “to leave behind”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /él.leːp.sis/ → /ˈel.lip.sis/ → /ˈe.lip.sis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /él.leːp.sis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈel.lip.sis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈel.lip.sis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈel.lip.sis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.lip.sis/

Noun

ἔλλειψῐς • (élleipsis) f (genitive ἐλλείψεως); third declension

1. A falling short, defect
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Democritus, Collected Works 102
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 356a
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 187a.17
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1042b.25
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 2.1106b.16:

     λέγω δὲ τὴν ἠθικήν· αὕτη γάρ ἐστι περὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις, ἐν δὲ τούτοις ἔστιν ὑπερβολὴ καὶ ἔλλειψις καὶ τὸ μέσον.

     légō dè tḕn ēthikḗn; haútē gár esti perì páthē kaì práxeis, en dè toútois éstin huperbolḕ kaì élleipsis kaì tò méson.

     • 1911 translation by D. P. Chase

       I mean moral [virtue]; for it is this that is concerned with passions and actions, and in these there is excess, defect, and the intermediate.

2. (geometry) The conic section: an ellipse
   • 262 BCE – 190 BCE, Apollonius of Perga, Conics 1.13
3. (grammar) An ellipsis (the omission of a word)
   • 250 CE – 350 CE, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 14.644a
   • 50 CE – 250 CE, Apollonius Dyscolus, On Syntax 117.19
4. (grammar) The omission of a letter, elision
   • 50 CE – 250 CE, Apollonius Dyscolus, On Pronouns 56.28
5. An eclipse
   • 495 CE – 570 CE, Olympiodorus the Younger, Commentary on the Aristotle's Meteorology 67.37

Declension

Third declension of ἡ ἔλλειψῐς; τῆς ἐλλείψεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἔλλειψῐς hē élleipsis	τὼ ἐλλείψει tṑ elleípsei	αἱ ἐλλείψεις hai elleípseis
Genitive	τῆς ἐλλείψεως tês elleípseōs	τοῖν ἐλλειψέοιν toîn elleipséoin	τῶν ἐλλείψεων tôn elleípseōn
Dative	τῇ ἐλλείψει têi elleípsei	τοῖν ἐλλειψέοιν toîn elleipséoin	ταῖς ἐλλείψεσῐ / ἐλλείψεσῐν taîs elleípsesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἔλλειψῐν tḕn élleipsin	τὼ ἐλλείψει tṑ elleípsei	τᾱ̀ς ἐλλείψεις tā̀s elleípseis
Vocative	ἔλλειψῐ élleipsi	ἐλλείψει elleípsei	ἐλλείψεις elleípseis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “defect”): ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ), ὑπεροχή (huperokhḗ)

Descendants

• Greek: έλλειψη (élleipsi)
• → Latin: ellīpsis (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “ἔλλειψις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἔλλειψις in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• ἔλλειψις 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.
  • default idem, page 203.
  • defect idem, page 204.
  • deficiency idem, page 205.
  • failure idem, page 301.