λίθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Has been compared to λεῖος (leîos, “smooth”), λιτός (litós, “simple, plain”), Latin laedō (“to strike, hurt”), and Lithuanian slidùs. Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin, noting that words for "stone" are often taken from a substrate language.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lí.tʰos/ → /ˈli.θos/ → /ˈli.θos/

• (5^th BC Attic) IPA^(key): /lí.tʰos/
• (1^st BC Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈli.tʰos/
• (4^th AD Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/
• (10^th AD Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/
• (15^th AD Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈli.θos/

Noun

λίθος • (líthos) m (genitive λίθου); second declension

1. a stone
2. stone as a substance

Usage notes

Λίθος is sometimes used as a feminine noun. This often (but not always) is used to refer to some special stone, such as a gem or magnet.

Inflection

Second declension of λίθος, λίθου

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	λίθος	λίθω	λίθοι
Genitive	λίθου	λίθοιν	λίθων
Dative	λίθῳ	λίθοιν	λίθοις
Accusative	λίθον	λίθω	λίθους
Vocative	λίθε	λίθω	λίθοι
Dialectal forms:
Notes:

Descendants

Descendants of λίθος in other languages

• Catalan: liti
• English: -lite

  English: aerolite

  English: coprolite

  English: datolite

• English: -lith

  English: rhinolith

  English: oolith

  English: otolith

• English: litharge
• English: lithograph, lithography
• English: Mesolithic
• English: regolith
• French: litharge

References

• λίθος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• λίθος in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• λίθος in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• «λίθος» 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
• «λίθος» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• λίθος in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• “G3037”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • boulder idem, page 90.
  • crag idem, page 182.
  • gem idem, page 355.
  • jewel idem, page 463.
  • pebble idem, page 601.
  • precious idem, page 634.
  • rock idem, page 719.
  • stone idem, page 819.
  • touch-stone idem, page 884.
  • trinket idem, page 895.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill

---

Greek

Noun

λίθος • (líthos) m (plural λίθοι)

1. stone (building material)

   θεμέλιος λίθος ― themélios líthos ― foundation stone

2. (medicine) stone, calculus
3. (archaeology) stone

   Εποχή του Λίθου ― Epochí tou Líthou ― Stone Age

Declension

declension of λίθος

	singular	plural
nominative	λίθος •	λίθοι •
genitive	λίθου •	λίθων •
accusative	λίθο •	λίθους •
vocative	λίθε •	λίθοι •

Derived terms

• ακρογωνιαίος λίθος m (akrogoniaíos líthos, “cornerstone”)
• λιθόσφαιρα f (lithósfaira, “lithosphere”)
• λιθογραφία f (lithografía, “lithograph, lithography”)
• λιθόστρωτο n (lithóstroto, “cobblestone”)

Coordinate terms

• πέτρα f (pétra, “rock”)
• λογισμός m (logismós, “calculus”) (mathematics)