μάλιστα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Superlative of μάλα (mála, “very”), from μάλα +‎ -ιστα (-ista, superlative adverb suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /má.lis.ta/ → /ˈma.lis.ta/ → /ˈma.lis.ta/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.lis.ta/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.lis.ta/

Adverb

μᾰ́λῐστᾰ • (málista)

1. most, most of all, above all
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.353
   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 647
   • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 1285
   • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Menecles 20
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.22
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.40
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 590D
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 25
   • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 152
   • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 180B
   • 409 BCE, Sophocles, Philoctetes 617
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.53
   • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 448D
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 80B
   • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 218C
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.37
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Protagoras 327A
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.86
   • 204 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Collected Works 5.5.11
   • 204 CE – 270 CE, Plotinus, Collected Works 6.2.7
   1. (strengthened, preceded by ὡς or ὅτι)
      • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 294
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 460A
      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 524
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.185
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 367B
      • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 510B
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 277A
      • 360 BCE, Plato, The Sophist 239B
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.171
      • 110 CE – 180 CE, Pausanias Periegeta, Graeciae Descriptio 1.42.3
      • 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 3.35
   2. (with the article) for the most part, mostly
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.20
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.104
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.6
      • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 212
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.147
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.92
      • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 62
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 794D
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 95
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Leptines 2
      • 330 BCE, Demosthenes, On the Crown 21
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.118
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.8
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Letters 2.24
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.90
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 173B
      • 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, Various History 14.40
      • 500 CE – 565 CE, Procopius, Secret History 4
   3. (added to a superlative)
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.220
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.334
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.76
      • 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 1421
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.55
   4. (for μᾶλλον)
      • 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1594
      • 300 BCE – 250 BCE, Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.91
   5. (in loose accounts of numbers, used to show that they are not exact)
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.29
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.92
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 5.2.31
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.118
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.68
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.191
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.93
      • 385 BCE – 380 BCE, Plato, Symposium 175C
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.22
      • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 2.41.13
   6. (καὶ μάλιστα, used in answers) most certainly
      • 388 BCE, Aristophanes, Plutus 827
      • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 994
      • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 253
      • 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 1531
      • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 453D

Descendants

• Greek: μάλιστα (málista)

References

• “μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μάλιστα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μάλιστα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μάλιστα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• μάλιστα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G3122 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.
  • about idem, page 2.
  • best idem, page 75.
  • chiefly idem, page 129.
  • eminently idem, page 268.
  • especially idem, page 282.
  • just idem, page 466.
  • largely idem, page 477.
  • mainly idem, page 508.
  • materially idem, page 517.
  • most idem, page 542.
  • nearly idem, page 553.
  • notably idem, page 562.
  • particularly idem, page 594.
  • peculiarly idem, page 601.
  • pre-eminently idem, page 634.
  • principally idem, page 641.
  • singularly idem, page 779.
  • superlatively idem, page 839.
  • yes idem, page 996.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μάλιστα (málista).

Adverb

μάλιστα • (málista)

1. yes, certainly, ok, of course, right you are, okey-dokey (acknowledging that a request has been heard and understood)

Coordinate terms

• ναι (nai, “yes”)
• όχι (óchi, “no”)