ἀβουλία

See also: αβουλία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀβουλίη (aboulíē) — Ionic

Etymology

ἀ- (a-, “not”, alpha privativum) +‎ βουλή (boulḗ, “will, determination, decision”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, abstract-noun-forming suffix)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.buː.lí.aː/ → /a.βuˈli.a/ → /a.vuˈli.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.buː.lí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.buˈli.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.βuˈli.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /a.vuˈli.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.vuˈli.a/

Noun

ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ • (aboulĭ́ā) f (genitive ἀβουλῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. ill-advisedness, thoughtlessness
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 10.41
   • 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.9.9B
     • Herodotus, Histories 7.210
     • Herodotus, Histories 8.57
   • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Collected Works 4.2.6
   • 342 BCE – 290 BCE, Menander 16.9D
   • c. 420 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 398
     • Sophocles, Electra 429
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 750
2. irresolution
   • 431 BCE – 404 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.75.3
   1. indecision
      • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Democritus, Collected Works 119

Declension

First declension of ἡ ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ; τῆς ἀβουλῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ hē aboulĭ́ā	τὼ ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ tṑ aboulĭ́ā	αἱ ἀβουλῐ́αι hai aboulĭ́ai
Genitive	τῆς ἀβουλῐ́ᾱς tês aboulĭ́ās	τοῖν ἀβουλῐ́αιν toîn aboulĭ́ain	τῶν ἀβουλῐῶν tôn aboulĭôn
Dative	τῇ ἀβουλῐ́ᾳ tēî aboulĭ́āi	τοῖν ἀβουλῐ́αιν toîn aboulĭ́ain	ταῖς ἀβουλῐ́αις taîs aboulĭ́ais
Accusative	τὴν ἀβουλῐ́ᾱν tḕn aboulĭ́ān	τὼ ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ tṑ aboulĭ́ā	τᾱ̀ς ἀβουλῐ́ᾱς tā̀s aboulĭ́ās
Vocative	ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ aboulĭ́ā	ἀβουλῐ́ᾱ aboulĭ́ā	ἀβουλῐ́αι aboulĭ́ai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → New Latin: abūlia
  • → English: abulia, aboulia, aboulomania
  • → Finnish: abulia
  • → Italian: abulia
  • → Portuguese: abulia
  • → Russian: абулия (abulija)
  • → Spanish: abulia

References

• “ἀβουλία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀβουλία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀβουλία in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀβουλία in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• “ἀβουλία”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • folly idem, page 332.
  • impolicy idem, page 422.
  • imprudence idem, page 425.
  • incautiousness idem, page 427.
  • indiscretion idem, page 434.
  • injudiciousness idem, page 441.
  • lunacy idem, page 504.
  • policy idem, page 624.
  • rashness idem, page 673.
  • recklessness idem, page 679.
  • senselessness idem, page 753.
  • short-sightedness idem, page 769.
  • silliness idem, page 776.
  • stupidity idem, page 830.
  • temerity idem, page 859.
  • thoughtlessness idem, page 868.
  • unwisdom idem, page 937.