λῃστής

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• λᾳστής (lāistḗs) — Doric
• ληϊστής (lēïstḗs) — Ionic

Etymology

From ληΐς (lēḯs), Epic form of λεία (leía, “plunder, spoils”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lɛːi̯s.tɛ̌ːs/ → /lisˈtis/ → /lisˈtis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lɛːi̯s.tɛ̌ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /le̝sˈte̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /lisˈtis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /lisˈtis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /lisˈtis/

Noun

λῃστής • (lēistḗs) m (genitive λῃστοῦ); first declension (Attic)

1. robber, bandit
   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 122:

     (Κρέων) λῃστὰς ἔφασκε συντυχόντας οὐ μιᾷ ῥώμῃ κτανεῖν νιν, ἀλλὰ σὺν πλήθει χερῶν.
     (Οἰδίπους) πῶς οὖν ὁ λῃστής, εἴ τι μὴ ξὺν ἀργύρῳ ἐπράσσετ’ ἐνθένδ’, ἐς τόδ’ ἂν τόλμης ἔβη;

     (Kréōn) lēistàs éphaske suntukhóntas ou miâi rhṓmēi ktaneîn nin, allà sùn plḗthei kherôn.
     (Oidípous) pôs oûn ho lēistḗs, eí ti mḕ xùn argúrōi eprásset’ enthénd’, es tód’ àn tólmēs ébē?

     • Translation by Sir Richard Jebb. 1887. @perseus

       (Creon) He said that robbers fell upon them, not one man alone, but with a great force.
       (Oedipus) How then, unless some intrigue had been worked with bribes from here in Thebes, would the robbers have been so bold?

   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 535:

     οὗτος σύ, πῶς δεῦρ’ ἦλθες; ἦ τοσόνδ’ ἔχεις / τόλμης πρόσωπον ὥστε τὰς ἐμὰς στέγας / ἵκου, φονεὺς ὢν τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ἐμφανῶς / λῃστής τ’ ἐναργὴς τῆς ἐμῆς τυραννίδος;

     hoûtos sú, pôs deûr’ êlthes? ê tosónd’ ékheis / tólmēs prósōpon hṓste tàs emàs stégas / híkou, phoneùs ṑn toûde tandròs emphanôs / lēistḗs t’ enargḕs tês emês turannídos?

     • Translation by Sir Richard Jebb. 1887. @perseus

       You, how did you get here? Are you so / boldfaced that you have come to my house, / you who are manifestly the murderer of its master, / the palpable thief of its crown?

2. pirate, buccaneer
3. revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla
4. (figuratively)
   • APl. (Anthology of Planudes).4.198. [Maecius/Maccius]: Μελέαγρος [Meleager]

     σωφροσύνας ὑβριστά, φρενοκλόπε, λῃστὰ λογισμοῦ, πτανὸν πῦρ, ψυχᾶς τραῦμ’ ἀόρατον, Ἔρως

     sōphrosúnas hubristá, phrenoklópe, lēistà logismoû, ptanòn pûr, psukhâs traûm’ aóraton, Érōs

     [you,] insolent of prudence, robber of the mind, pirate of reason, flying fire, invisible trauma of the soul, [you,] Eros

Inflection

First declension of ὁ λῃστής; τοῦ λῃστοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λῃστής ho lēistḗs	τὼ λῃστᾱ́ tṑ lēistā́	οἱ λῃσταί hoi lēistaí
Genitive	τοῦ λῃστοῦ toû lēistoû	τοῖν λῃσταῖν toîn lēistaîn	τῶν λῃστῶν tôn lēistôn
Dative	τῷ λῃστῇ tôi lēistêi	τοῖν λῃσταῖν toîn lēistaîn	τοῖς λῃσταῖς toîs lēistaîs
Accusative	τὸν λῃστήν tòn lēistḗn	τὼ λῃστᾱ́ tṑ lēistā́	τοὺς λῃστᾱ́ς toùs lēistā́s
Vocative	λῃστᾰ́ lēistá	λῃστᾱ́ lēistā́	λῃσταί lēistaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (robber): κλέπτης m (kléptēs, “thief, cheat”), κλώψ m (klṓps, “thief”)
• (pirate): πειρατής (peiratḗs)

Derived terms

• ἀρχιλῃστής (arkhilēistḗs)
• λῃστάρχης (lēistárkhēs)
• λῄσταρχος (lḗistarkhos)
• λῃστεία (lēisteía)
• λῃστεύω (lēisteúō)
• λῃστήρ (lēistḗr)
• λῃστήριον (lēistḗrion)
• λῃστικός (lēistikós)
• λῃστοδῐώκτης (lēistodiṓktēs)
• λῃστοκτόνος (lēistoktónos)
• λῃστοπιαστής (lēistopiastḗs)
• λῃστοσαλπιγκτής (lēistosalpinktḗs)
• λῃστρικός (lēistrikós)
• λῃστρίς (lēistrís)
• συλλῃστεύω (sullēisteúō)
• συλλῃστής (sullēistḗs)
• φρενολῃστής (phrenolēistḗs)
• ψευδολῃστής (pseudolēistḗs)

 

Related terms

• ἀλήστευτος (alḗsteutos)
• ληΐδιος (lēḯdios)
• ληΐζομαι (lēḯzomai)
• ληϊστός (lēïstós)
• ληϊστύς (lēïstús)
• ληΐστωρ (lēḯstōr)
• ληῖτις (lēîtis)
• λῄστωρ (lḗistōr)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ληστής (listís)
• → Arabic: لِصّ (liṣṣ)
• → Aramaic: לִסְטָא (lesṭā) / ܠܣܛܐ (lesṭā)
• → Hebrew: לסטים

Further reading

• “λῃστής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “λῃστής”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• λῃστής 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
• G3027 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• λῃστής in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bandit idem, page 61.
  • brigand idem, page 98.
  • buccaneer idem, page 102.
  • corsair idem, page 176.
  • depredator idem, page 213.
  • desperado idem, page 216.
  • filibuster idem, page 319.
  • freebooter idem, page 344.
  • marauder idem, page 513.
  • pirate idem, page 614.
  • plunderer idem, page 622.
  • privateer idem, page 642.
  • ravaged idem, page 674.
  • ravisher idem, page 674.
  • robber idem, page 719.
  • spoiler idem, page 803.