ὀλίγος

See also: ολίγος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ὀλῐ́ος (olíos) — Later poetic
• 𐠃𐠑𐠿𐠚 (o-li-kso-ne) — Cypriot

Etymology

Probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₃ligos (“indigent, small, needy, ill”). Compare Old Armenian աղքատ (ałkʻat, “poor, indigent”), Old Irish líach (“wretched”), Old Prussian licuts (“small”). See also λοιγός (loigós, “destruction, ruin”) and Albanian lig (“evil, bad”), whose proto-forms are almost if not identical, but which Beekes considers etymologically separate.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /o.lí.ɡos/ → /oˈli.ɣos/ → /oˈli.ɣos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.lí.ɡos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɡos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈli.ɣos/

Adjective

ὀλῐ́γος • (olígos) m (feminine ὀλῐ́γη, neuter ὀλῐ́γον); first/second declension

1. Of small amount: few, little
2. Of small size: little, small
3. Of small degree: slight

Declension

First and second declension of ὀλῐ́γος; ὀλῐ́γη; ὀλῐ́γον (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		ὀλῐ́γος olígos	ὀλῐ́γη olígē	ὀλῐ́γον olígon		ὀλῐ́γω olígō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olígā	ὀλῐ́γω olígō		ὀλῐ́γοι olígoi	ὀλῐ́γαι olígai	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olíga
Genitive		ὀλῐ́γου olígou	ὀλῐ́γης olígēs	ὀλῐ́γου olígou		ὀλῐ́γοιν olígoin	ὀλῐ́γαιν olígain	ὀλῐ́γοιν olígoin		ὀλῐ́γων olígōn	ὀλῐ́γων olígōn	ὀλῐ́γων olígōn
Dative		ὀλῐ́γῳ olígōi	ὀλῐ́γῃ olígēi	ὀλῐ́γῳ olígōi		ὀλῐ́γοιν olígoin	ὀλῐ́γαιν olígain	ὀλῐ́γοιν olígoin		ὀλῐ́γοις olígois	ὀλῐ́γαις olígais	ὀλῐ́γοις olígois
Accusative		ὀλῐ́γον olígon	ὀλῐ́γην olígēn	ὀλῐ́γον olígon		ὀλῐ́γω olígō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olígā	ὀλῐ́γω olígō		ὀλῐ́γους olígous	ὀλῐ́γᾱς olígās	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olíga
Vocative		ὀλῐ́γε olíge	ὀλῐ́γη olígē	ὀλῐ́γον olígon		ὀλῐ́γω olígō	ὀλῐ́γᾱ olígā	ὀλῐ́γω olígō		ὀλῐ́γοι olígoi	ὀλῐ́γαι olígai	ὀλῐ́γᾰ olíga
Derived forms		Adverb				Comparative				Superlative
		ὀλῐ́γως olígōs				ὀλῐγώτερος oligṓteros				ὀλῐγώτᾰτος oligṓtatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Antonyms

• πολύς (polús)

Derived terms

• ὀλῐγᾰ́ρχης (oligárkhēs)
• ὀλῐγόθερμος (oligóthermos)
• ὀλῐγόπῐστος (oligópistos)
• ὀλῐγότροφος (oligótrophos)

Descendants

• English: oligo-
• Greek: λίγος (lígos)

Further reading

• “ὀλίγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὀλίγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ὀλίγος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ὀλίγος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ὀλίγος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ὀλίγος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3641 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.
  • brief idem, page 98.
  • distant idem, page 240.
  • faint idem, page 302.
  • few idem, page 317.
  • insignificant idem, page 445.
  • jejune idem, page 462.
  • languid idem, page 475.
  • limited idem, page 492.
  • little idem, page 495.
  • meagre idem, page 519.
  • petty idem, page 609.
  • remote idem, page 694.
  • scant idem, page 737.
  • short idem, page 768.
  • slack idem, page 782.
  • slender idem, page 783.
  • slight idem, page 784.
  • small idem, page 786.
  • trifling idem, page 895.
  • trivial idem, page 896.
  • weak idem, page 969.