λῃστής

See also: ληστής

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ληῐ̈στήρ (lēĭ̈stḗr), λῃστήρ (lēistḗr) — Epic
• ληῐ̈στής (lēĭ̈stḗs) — Ionic
• λᾳστής (lāistḗs) — Doric

Etymology

From λῄζομαι (lēízomai, “to plunder”) +‎ -τής (-tḗs, “-er”).

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, feminine ληῗτῐς); first declension

1. robber
   1. (Attic, Koine) bandit; brigand (land-based)

      Synonyms: κλέπτης (kléptēs), κλώψ (klṓps)

      • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus Rex 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 miāî 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

          (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 robber have been so bold

   2. (Attic, Ionic) pirate; buccaneer (by sea)

      Synonym: πειρᾱτής (peirātḗs)

      • 484 BCE – 425 BCE, Herodotus, 6 17:

        ληϊστὴς κατεστήκεε Καρχηδονίων

        lēïstḕs katestḗkee Karkhēdoníōn

        he undertook a course of piracy against the Carthaginians

      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, 1 5:

        οἱ λῃσταὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν

        hoi lēistaì katà thálassan

        brigands by sea

      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Caesar 1.4–2.4:

        εἶτα ἀποπλέων ἁλίσκεται περὶ τὴν Φαρμακοῦσσαν νῆσον ὑπὸ πειρατῶν…
        … πλοῖα πληρώσας εὐθὺς ἐκ τοῦ Μιλησίων λιμένος ἐπὶ τοὺς λῃστὰς ἀνήγετο …
        … καὶ προαγαγὼν τοὺς λῃστὰς ἅπαντας ἀνεσταύρωσεν.

        eîta apopléōn halísketai perì tḕn Pharmakoûssan nêson hupò peiratôn…
        … ploîa plērṓsas euthùs ek toû Milēsíōn liménos epì toùs lēistàs anḗgeto …
        … kaì proagagṑn toùs lēistàs hápantas anestaúrōsen.

        He was captured near the island of Pharmacusa by pirates …
        … after manning ships he sailed from Miletus against the brigands …
        … and bringing out all the brigands, he crucified them.

   3. (figurative) one who forcibly appropriates power, status, or abstract goods
      • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus Rex 535:

        …λῃστής τ’ ἐναργὴς τῆς ἐμῆς τυραννίδος;

        …lēistḗs t’ enargḕs tês emês turannídos?

        …the palpable robber of my crown

      • APl., 4 198:

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

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

        You who outrage prudence, thief of the mind, robber of reason, winged fire, unseen wound of the soul, Eros

      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Lycophron, Alexandra 1143:

        Κύπριδος λῃστὴν θεᾶς

        Kúpridos lēistḕn theâs

        the robber (pirate) of the Cyprian goddess (Aphrodite)

   4. (Koine, Judaism, Christianity) insurgent; rebel (one engaged in violent resistance to authority)

      Synonym: στᾰσῐᾰστής (stăsĭăstḗs)

      • Mark, 14 48:

        Ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν ἐξήλθατε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων συλλαβεῖν με;

        Hōs epì lēistḕn exḗlthate metà makhairôn kaì xúlōn sullabeîn me?

        Have you come out against me with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit?

      • John, 18 40:

        ἦν δὲ ὁ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής

        ên dè ho Barabbâs lēistḗs

        Now Barabbas was a bandit.

      • 75 CE, Josephus, The Jewish War 2.254:

        λῃστῶν καὶ στασιαστῶν

        lēistôn kaì stasiastôn

        bandits and insurgents

Declension

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 tōî lēistēî	τοῖν λῃσταῖν toîn lēistaîn	τοῖς λῃσταῖς toîs lēistaîs
Accusative	τὸν λῃστήν tòn lēistḗn	τὼ λῃστᾱ́ tṑ lēistā́	τοὺς λῃστᾱ́ς toùs lēistā́s
Vocative	λῃστᾰ́ lēistắ	λῃστᾱ́ lēistā́	λῃσταί lēistaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ᾰ̓ρχῐλῃστής (ărkhĭlēistḗs)
• λῃστᾰ́ρχης (lēistắrkhēs)
• λῄστᾰρχος (lēístărkhos)
• λῃστείᾱ (lēisteíā)
• λῃστεύω (lēisteúō)
• λῃστήρ (lēistḗr)
• λῃστήρῐον (lēistḗrĭon)
• λῃστῐκός (lēistĭkós)
• λῃστοδῐώκτης (lēistodĭṓktēs)
• λῃστοκτόνος (lēistoktónos)
• λῃστοπῐᾰστής (lēistopĭăstḗs)
• λῃστοσᾰλπῐγκτής (lēistosălpĭnktḗs)
• λῃστρῐκός (lēistrĭkós)
• λῃστρῐ́ς (lēistrĭ́s)
• σῠλλῃστεύω (sŭllēisteúō)
• σῠλλῃστής (sŭllēistḗs)
• φρενολῃστής (phrenolēistḗs)
• ψευδολῃστής (pseudolēistḗs)

Related terms

• ᾰ̓λήστευτος (ălḗsteutos)
• ληῐ̈́δῐος (lēĭ̈́dĭos)
• ληῐ̈́ζομαι (lēĭ̈́zomai)
• ληῐ̈στός (lēĭ̈stós)
• ληῐ̈στῠ́ς (lēĭ̈stŭ́s)
• ληῐ̈́στωρ (lēĭ̈́stōr)
• ληῗτῐς (lēï̂tĭs)
• λῄστωρ (lēístōr)

Descendants

• → Greek: ληστής (listís) (learned)
• → 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.