A.little, small, freq. in Hom., rarer later, opp. “μέγας, σάκος” Il.14.376 ; “κῦμα” Od.10.94, etc. ; ὀλίγῃ ὀπί with small, low voice, 14.492 ; of stature, 9.515 ; “ὀ. κῶρος” Theoc.1.47 ; “οὐκ ὀλίγης αἷμα βοὸς κέχυται” Call.Aet.Oxy.2080.85 ; of Space, “ὀ. χῶρος” Il.10.161, etc. ; of Time, “χρόνος” 19.157,23.418, Pi. N.7.38, etc. ; “ἐν βραχεῖ κὠλίγῳ χρόνῳ” S.Fr.646 (cf. IV. 3).
2. sts. in a sense between that of Size and Quantity, “ὀ. δόσις” Od.6.208 ; “οὖρα ὀλίγα” not copious, Hp.Epid.1.2 ; ὑποστάσιες ὀλίγαι slight sediments, ib.17 ; ὀ. καὶ οὐδέν little or nothing, Pl.Ap.23a ; “οὐδὲν ἢ ὀ.” Arist.PA651b17.
II. of Number, few, or of Quantity, little, not in Hom., freq. in Att., Ar.Av.1417, Eq.717, etc., but rare in Trag., as “ὀλίγα κακά” A.Pers.330.—The governing body in Oligarchies and the oligarchical party in Democracies was called οἱ ὀ., Th.6.38,8.9, etc. ; ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεία, αἱ διὰ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεῖαι, Pl.Plt.291d, D.60.25 ; “ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους τὸ ὀ. μέσον” Pl.Plt.303a.
2. c. inf., ὀλίγους . . στρατιῇ τῇ Μήδων συμβαλεῖν too few to engage . . , Hdt.6.109, cf. 7.207 ; “μὴ . . αἱ σφέτεραι δέκα νῆες ὀλίγαι ἀμύνειν ὦσιν” Th.1.50.
III. neut. ὀλίγον as Adv., a little, slightly, little, with Verbs, “ὀ. παρακλίνας” Il.23.424, cf. 11.52, 12.452 ; “φροντίσας” E.Cyc.163 ; “ὀ. τοῦ ποιήματος προελθών” Pl.Prt.339d : also neut. pl., “ἠκροβολίσαντο ὀλίγα” Th.3.73.
2. with comp. Adjs., “ὀλίγον προγενέστερος” Il.23.789 ; “ὀ. ἧσσον” Od.15.365 ; “στιβαρώτερον οὐκ ὀ. περ” 8.187 ; “φέρτερος οὐκ ὀ. περ” Il.19.217 ; ὀ. τι πρότερον, v.l. for ὀλίγῳ, Hdt.4.79,81, cf. Pl.Plt.262b, etc. ; “ὀ. ὕστερον” Id.Grg.454b, etc. ; but ὀλίγῳ is more freq. in Prose, Hdt. ll.cc. (with v.l.), 7.113, al., Pl.Grg.460c, R.327c, etc.
IV. special Phrases:
1. ὀλίγου δεῖν almost (v. δεῖ II); ὀλίγου ἐδέησε καταλαβεῖν wanted but little of overtaking, Hdt.7.10.γ᾽ : hence ὀλίγου alone, within a little, allbut, almost, “ὀλίγου σεκύνες διεδηλήσαντο” Od.14.37, cf. Ar.Ach.348,381,Nu.722, Lys.14.17, Pl.Prt.361b, D.19.334, etc. ; “ὀ. ἅπαντες” Pl.Ap.22b ; “ὀ. ἐς χιλίους” close upon 1,000, Th.4.124 ; ὀ. ἦλθεν ἑλεῖν (v. infr. 9) Paus.1.13.6.
2. “δι᾽ ὀλίγου” at a short distance, E.Ph.1098, Th.2.89,3.21, dub. in A.Th.762 (lyr.) ; for (during) a short time, Th.1.77,2.85,3.43 ; within or after a short time, Id.6.11,47,7.39, etc. ; but
3. ἐν ὀλίγῳ (χώρῳ is added in Hdt. 9.70) in a small space, within small compass, E.Supp.1126 (lyr.) ; “ἐν ὀ. στρατοπεδευομένοις” Th.4.26 ; κυκλωθέντων ἐν ὀ. ib.96 ; “εἰς ταὐτὸ πάντα . . ἁθροίσαντ᾽ ἐν ὀ.” D.3.18 ; also ἐν ὀ. (sc. χρόνῳ) for a brief time, Pi.P.8.92 ; but also, in a short time, quickly, “ἔγνων καὶ περὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ἐν ὀ. τοῦτο” Pl.Ap.22b, cf. Th.4.55, Act.Ap.26.28.
b. ἐν ὀλίγοις one among few, i.e. exceedingly, remarkably, “ποταμὸς ἐν ὀ. μέγας” Hdt.4.52 ; “ἐν ὀλίγοισι Περσέων . . ἀνὴρ δόκιμος” Id.9.41 : freq. in later writers, Plu. Pomp.10, Hld.3.1 ; so σὺν ὀλίγοις, v. infr. 10.
6. “ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγον” for a short time, Hp.Prorrh.1.26, Plot. 4.4.29, Gp.7.12.22, 10.7.10, etc. ; a little at a time, Hp.VC18 ; “εἴρηται ἐν τῷ [βιβλίῳ] ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγον” a little way on, near the beginning, Gal.15.428.
7. “κατ᾽ ὀλίγον” by little and little, Th.1.69, Pl.Ti.85d, Luc. Nec.11, etc. ; “ἐκ τοῦ κατ᾽ ὀ.” D.S.15.34, Ath.Med. ap. Orib.1.2.6 : but the Adj.freq. takes the gender and number of its Subst., “κατ᾽ ὀλίγους” Hdt.2.93, 8.113 ; οὗτοι κατ᾽ ὀλίγους γινόμενοι ἐμάχοντο fought few at a time, in small parties, Id.9.102, cf. Pl.Tht.197d ; κατ᾽ ὀλίγον μαχεῖται (sc. τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν) Th.4.10.
9. παρ᾽ ὀλίγον with little to spare, only just, “ἀπέφυγες” E.IT870(lyr.) ; to within a short distance of, “παρ᾽ ὀ. ἦλθε . . ἐκπεσεῖν” Plb. 2.55.4, cf. 18.46.12 ; but
b. παρ᾽ ὀ. ποιεῖσθαι hold of small account, X.An.6.6.11.
VI. Comparison :
1. the Comp. is commonly supplied by μείων, ἥσσων, or ἐλάσσων (qq.v.) ; the older form ὀλείζων (fr. Ο᾿λειγ-ψων) is found in Hom., λαοὶ δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ὀλείζονες ἦσαν (ὑπολίζονες codd.) Il.18.519 ; so in Att. Inscrr., IG12.76.8 (written ὄλεζον ib.63.17, al.) ; τοῖσι . . ὀλείζοσι μυστηρίοισιν ib.6.76, cf. 95 ; ὀλείζους is prob. in X.Ath.2.1 (μείζους codd.) ; so in Alexandrian Poets, Call.Jov.72 (ὀλίζοσι codd.), AP9.521 ; ἐς ὀλίζονας ἀστέρας ἄρκτου Poet. ap. Theodos. in HilgardExc.exHdn.p.19 ; also “ὀλίζωνες” Nic.Th.123, ὀλίζωνα ib.372 ; ὀλιζότερος is found in Id.Al. 479, Opp.C.3.65,394, cf. ὀλιζόω ; ὀλιγώτερος is found in Hp.Virg.I (with the sense weaker, v. supr. 1.4), S.E.M.1.70, App.Pun.42, Mith.24, Ael.NA2.42,6.51.
2. Sup. ὀλίγιστος, η, ον, always of Number or Quantity, Il.19.223, Hes.Op.723, IG12.54.7, Ar.Ra.115, Pl.628, Pl.R.473b, al. ; ὀλιγίστου, Sup. of ὀλίγου (cf. IV. I), very nearly, Phot., Hsch. (ubi ὀλιγωστοῦ) ; ὀλίγιστον as Adv., least, very little, Pl.R.587b ; “τὸ ὀ.” at least, Id.Prm.149a ; “ὡς ὀλίγιστα” Id.Grg. 510a, Lg.953a (v.l. ὀλιγοστά) ; “ἐν ὀλιγίστῳ διασαφῶν” Eust.1262.54 ; so “δι᾽ ὀλιγίστων” Pl.Ep.351d (interpol.). (Aspirated in papyri of ii-iii A.D., as “μεθ᾽ ὁλίγον” BGU388.11, cf. 146.10.)
