λοιμός

See also: λιμός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of unknown etymon. The forms λιμός (limós), λοιγός (loigós) have been considered as possibilities. Compare λύμη (lúmē), λύμα (lúma), λυμαίνομαι (lumaínomai)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /loi̯.mós/ → /lyˈmos/ → /liˈmos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /loi̯.mós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /lyˈmos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /lyˈmos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /lyˈmos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /liˈmos/

Noun

λοιμός • (loimós) m (genitive λοιμοῦ); second declension

1. plague, pestilence, any deadly infectious disorder
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.61:

     ἐννῆμαρ μὲν ἀνὰ στρατὸν ᾤχετο κῆλα θεοῖο, / τῇ δεκάτῃ δ’ ἀγορὴν δὲ καλέσσατο λαὸν Ἀχιλλεύς: / τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη: / κήδετο γὰρ Δαναῶν, ὅτι ῥα θνήσκοντας ὁρᾶτο. / οἳ δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τε γένοντο, / τοῖσι δ’ ἀνιστάμενος μετέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς: / «Ἀτρεΐδη νῦν ἄμμε παλιμπλαγχθέντας ὀΐω / ἂψ ἀπονοστήσειν, εἴ κεν θάνατόν γε φύγοιμεν, / εἰ δὴ ὁμοῦ πόλεμός τε δαμᾷ καὶ λοιμὸς Ἀχαιούς:»

     ennêmar mèn anà stratòn ṓikheto kêla theoîo, / têi dekátēi d’ agorḕn dè kaléssato laòn Akhilleús: / tôi gàr epì phresì thêke theà leukṓlenos Hḗrē: / kḗdeto gàr Danaôn, hóti rha thnḗskontas horâto. / hoì d’ epeì oûn ḗgerthen homēgerées te génonto, / toîsi d’ anistámenos metéphē pódas ōkùs Akhilleús: / «Atreḯdē nûn ámme palimplankhthéntas oḯō / àps aponostḗsein, eí ken thánatón ge phúgoimen, / ei dḕ homoû pólemós te damâi kaì loimòs Akhaioús:»

     For nine days the missiles of the god ranged among the host, / but on the tenth Achilles called the people to assembly, / for the goddess, white-armed Hera, had put it in his heart / since she pitied the Danaans, when she saw them dying. / When they were assembled and gathered together, / among them arose and spoke swift-footed Achilles: / “Son of Atreus, now I think we shall return home, / beaten back again, should we even escape death, / if war and pestilence alike are to ravage the Achaeans.

     English translation (1924) by A.T. Murray.

     Scene: Apollo causes a plague to afflict the Greek army.

   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.47:

     καὶ ὄντων αὐτῶν οὐ πολλάς πω ἡμέρας ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἡ νόσος πρῶτον ἤρξατο γενέσθαι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, λεγόμενον μὲν καὶ πρότερον πολλαχόσε ἐγκατασκῆψαι καὶ περὶ Λῆμνον καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις χωρίοις, οὐ μέντοι τοσοῦτός γε λοιμὸς οὐδὲ φθορὰ οὕτως ἀνθρώπων οὐδαμοῦ ἐμνημονεύετο γενέσθαι.

     kaì óntōn autôn ou pollás pō hēméras en têi Attikêi hē nósos prôton ḗrxato genésthai toîs Athēnaíois, legómenon mèn kaì próteron pollakhóse enkataskêpsai kaì perì Lêmnon kaì en állois khōríois, ou méntoi tosoûtós ge loimòs oudè phthorà hoútōs anthrṓpōn oudamoû emnēmoneúeto genésthai.

     Not many days after their arrival in Attica the plague first began to show itself among the Athenians. It was said that it had broken out in many places previously in the neighborhood of Lemnos and elsewhere; but a pestilence of such extent and mortality was nowhere remembered.

     English translation: Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910

     The "Plague of Athens" occurred in 430 BCE, second year of the Peloponnesian War, causing a breakdown of Athens' strength, probably one of the factors causing its defeat.

   1. (of person) a plague, a pest
2. (as adjective) pestilent

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ λοιμός; τοῦ λοιμοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λοιμός ho loimós	τὼ λοιμώ tṑ loimṓ	οἱ λοιμοί hoi loimoí
Genitive	τοῦ λοιμοῦ toû loimoû	τοῖν λοιμοῖν toîn loimoîn	τῶν λοιμῶν tôn loimôn
Dative	τῷ λοιμῷ tôi loimôi	τοῖν λοιμοῖν toîn loimoîn	τοῖς λοιμοῖς toîs loimoîs
Accusative	τὸν λοιμόν tòn loimón	τὼ λοιμώ tṑ loimṓ	τοὺς λοιμούς toùs loimoús
Vocative	λοιμέ loimé	λοιμώ loimṓ	λοιμοί loimoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• ἐπιλοίμια (epiloímia)
• λοιμεύομαι (loimeúomai)
• λοίμη (loímē)
• λοιμικός (loimikós)
• λοίμιος (loímios)
• λοιμοποιός (loimopoiós)
• λοιμότης (loimótēs)
• λοιμοφόρος (loimophóros)
• λοιμώδης (loimṓdēs)
• λοιμώσσω (loimṓssō)
• προσπεπιλοιμώττω (prospepiloimṓttō)

 

Descendants

• Greek: λοιμός (loimós)

Further reading

• “λοιμός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “λοιμός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “λοιμός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• λοιμός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• λοιμός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G3061 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.
  • contagion idem, page 166.
  • disease idem, page 232.
  • epidemic idem, page 279.
  • infectious disease idem, page 437.
  • murrain idem, page 547.
  • pest idem, page 609.
  • pestilence idem, page 609.
  • plague idem, page 616.
  • scourge idem, page 741.
  • sickness idem, page 772.

Greek

FWOTD – 27 May 2020

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λοιμός (loimós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liˈmos/
• Hyphenation: λοι‧μός
• Homophone: λιμός (limós)

Noun

λοιμός • (loimós) m (plural λοιμοί)

1. (medicine) epidemic, plague

   Ο Περικλής πέθανε στον «Λοιμό των Αθηνών», που το 430 σκότωσε πάνω από 75.000 Αθηναίους.

   O Periklís péthane ston «Loimó ton Athinón», pou to 430 skótose páno apó 75.000 Athinaíous.

   Pericles died during the Plague of Athens in 430 (BCE) which took the lives of more than 75,000 Athenians.

   • και στο κατώφλι πρόβαινε, σα χάρος, σα λοιμός,
     ψηλός, ωραίος κι αλαζών, ο δύστροπος πατέρας

     kai sto katófli próvaine, sa cháros, sa loimós,
     psilós, oraíos ki alazón, o dýstropos patéras

     and on the threshold he appeared, looking like death, looking like plague
     tall, beautiful and arrogant, the twisted-tempered father.

     Yiannis Ritsos, (1935) poetry collection Πυραμίδες (Pyramídes, “Pyramids”), "Explanation"

Declension

declension of λοιμός

case     \     number	singular	plural
nominative	λοιμός •	λοιμοί •
genitive	λοιμού •	λοιμών •
accusative	λοιμό •	λοιμούς •
vocative	λοιμέ •	λοιμοί •

Related terms

• λοιμοκαθαρτήριο n (loimokathartírio, “quarantine”)
• λοίμωξη f (loímoxi, “infection”)
• λοιμώδης (loimódis, “infectious”)
• ουρολοίμωξη f (ouroloímoxi)

Further reading

• λοιμός on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el