λέων

See also: Λέων

Ancient Greek

Λίθινος τῆς Δήλου λέων (The stone lion of Delos)

Etymology

Many ancient languages possessed similar words for lion, including Akkadian 𒌨 (labbu) (reconstructed to Proto-Semitic *labiʾ-). It is unclear how they are related and who borrowed from whom. The ultimate source is likely not Indo-European, however.^[1]

The τ (t) in the stem λεοντ- (leont-) was influenced by the present participle. The original stem was *λεον- (*leon-), as shown by λέαινα (léaina, “female lion”) and Latin leō. If the stem were originally λεοντ- (leont-), the feminine form would be *λέουσα (*léousa).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lé.ɔːn/ → /ˈle.on/ → /ˈle.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lé.ɔːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈle.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈle.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈle.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈle.on/

Noun

λέων • (léōn) m (genitive λέοντος); third declension

1. lion
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, The Statesman 291a.9:

     πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ λέουσι τῶν ἀνδρῶν εἴξασι καὶ Κενταύροις καὶ τοιούτοισιν ἑτέροις

     polloì mèn gàr léousi tôn andrôn eíxasi kaì Kentaúrois kaì toioútoisin hetérois

2. (astrology) Leo, the zodiacal sign
3. lionheart, savage (one having the characteristics of a lion (positive or negative): savage, noble, or brave)

Usage notes

Alternative forms of the dative plural include λείουσι (leíousi) (late Epic) and λεόντεσσι (leóntessi).

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λέων ho léōn	τὼ λέοντε tṑ léonte	οἱ λέοντες hoi léontes
Genitive	τοῦ λέοντος toû léontos	τοῖν λεόντοιν toîn leóntoin	τῶν λεόντων tôn leóntōn
Dative	τῷ λέοντῐ tôi léontĭ	τοῖν λεόντοιν toîn leóntoin	τοῖς λέουσῐ / λέουσῐν toîs léousĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν λέοντᾰ tòn léontă	τὼ λέοντε tṑ léonte	τοὺς λέοντᾰς toùs léontăs
Vocative	λέον léon	λέοντε léonte	λέοντες léontes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ὁ λέων; τοῦ λέοντος (Attic)

Derived terms

• θῡμολέων (thūmoléōn)
• Λέανδρος (Léandros)
• λεοντάριον (leontárion)
• λεοντοπέτᾰλον (leontopétălon)
• λεόπαρδος (leópardos)
• Λέων (Léōn)
• Λεωνῐ́δᾱς (Leōnĭ́dās)
• Τῑμολέων (Tīmoléōn)
• χᾰμαιλέων (khămailéōn)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲗⲉⲱⲛ (leōn)
• → Greek: λέων (léon) (learned)
• → Latin: leō (see there for further descendants)

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λέων, -οντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 854

Further reading

• “λέων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “λέων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “λέων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• λέων 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
• λέων in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “λέων”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3023 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • leon idem, page 485.
  • lion idem, page 493.
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Greek

Alternative forms

• λέοντας (léontas) (variant with modern suffix)
• λιοντάρι (liontári) (standard)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn) from the accusative singular τὸν (tòn) λέοντα (léonta). Also see λέοντας m (léontas), λιόντας m (lióntas), λεοντάρι n (leontári) & λιοντάρι n (liontári).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈle.on/
• Hyphenation: λέ‧ων

Noun

λέων • (léon) m (plural λέοντες, feminine λέαινα)

1. (learned) form of λιοντάρι (liontári) (in set phrases and learned terms)

   η Πύλη των Λεόντων στις Μυκήνες ― i Pýli ton Leónton stis Mykínes ― the Lion Gate at Mycenae

2. (learned, figurative) brave man
3. for the constellation and the given name, see Λέων (Léon)

Declension

Compare to the declension of λέοντας (léontas).

Declension of λέων

	singular	plural
nominative	λέων (léon)	λέοντες (léontes)
genitive	λέοντος (léontos)	λεόντων (leónton)
accusative	λέοντα (léonta)	λέοντες (léontes)
vocative	λέων (léon)	λέοντες (léontes)

Related terms

expressions

• ένας, αλλά λέων! (énas, allá léon!, “one, but a lion!”)
• εξ όνυχος τον λέοντα (ex ónychos ton léonta), Ancient Greek ἐξ ὀνύχων λέοντα (ex onúkhōn léonta)
• λάκκος των λεόντων m (lákkos ton leónton, “pit of lions”)
• μερίδα του λέοντος f (merída tou léontos, “lion's share”)

with λέων or λεοντ-

• λεονταρισμός m (leontarismós)
• λεόντειος (leónteios, “leonine”)
• λεοντή f (leontí, “lionskin”)
• λεοντίαση f (leontíasi, “leontiasis”)
• λεοντιδέας m (leontidéas)
• λεοντόκαρδος (leontókardos, “lionheart”)
• λεοντοκεφαλή f (leontokefalí, “lion's head”)
• χαμαιλεοντίζω (chamaileontízo)
• χαμαιλέων (chamailéon), χαμαιλέοντας m (chamailéontas, “chameleon”)

with λιοντ-, see: λιοντάρι (liontári)

Further reading

• λέων, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language