Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon

A.“ἐρήμη” Od.3.270, S.OC1719(lyr.), Ant.739, Tr.530 (lyr.), and in the phrase δίκη ἐρήμη (v. infr. III) : Att. ἔρημος , ον, acc. to Hdn.Gr.2.938 : Comp. “-ότερος” Th.3.11, Lys.29.1, etc. : Sup. “-ότατος” Hdt.9.118:—desolate, lonely, solitary,

1. of places, “ἐς νῆσον ἐρήμην” Od.3.270 ; “χῶρος” Il.10.520; τὰ ἐ. τῆς Λιβύης the desert parts.., Hdt.2.32, cf. Th.2.17 ; ἡ ἐρῆμος (sc.χώρα) Hdt.4.18 ; “ἡ ἐρήμη” Ael.NA 7.48: pl., ib.3.26 ; empty, “πνύξ” Ar.Ach.20.

2. of personsor animals, τὰ δ᾽ ἐρῆμα φοβεῖται (i.e. the sheep), Il.5.140 ; “ξέρξην ἔ. μολεῖν” A. Pers.734(troch.) ; “ἧσθαι δόμοις ἔ.” Id.Ag.862 ; “πόρτις ἐρήμα” S.Tr.530 (lyr.) ; “ἔ. κἄφιλος” Id.Ph.228; “τὸν θεὸν ἔ. ἀπολιπόντε” Ar.Pl.447 ; freq. of poor, friendless persons, And.4.15, etc.; ἐρημότεροι, opp. δυνατώτεροι, Th.3.11; “οὐκ ὢν οὔτε τῶν ἐρημοτάτων οὔτε τῶν ἀπόρων κομιδῇ” D. 21.111 ; “εἰς ὀρφανὰ καὶ ἔ. ὑβρίζειν” Pl.Lg.927c; “ὄρνιθες” solitary, not gregarious, Plu.Caes.63 : neut. as Adv., ἔρημα κλαίω I weep in solitude, E.Supp.775; ἔρημον ἐμβλέπειν to look vacantly, Ar.Fr.456.

3. of conditions, “πλάνος” S.OC1114.

II. c. gen., reft of, void or destitute of, “[χώρη] ἐ. πάντων” Hdt.2.32 ; “ἀνθρώπων” Id.4.17, cf. 18 ; “ἀνδρῶν” Id.6.23, S.OT57 ; “Ἀθηναίων” Hdt.8.65 ; “στέγαι φίλων ἔ.” S.El. 1405 ; “Πειραιᾶ ἔ. ὄντα νεῶν” Th.8.96; τῇ ἦν ἐρημότατον τῶν πολεμίων (sc. τὸ τεῖχος) Hdt.9.118 ; “[τὰ γεγραμμένα] ἀπόντος τοῦ γράψαντος ἔρημα τοῦ βοηθήσοντός ἐστιν” Isoc.Ep.1.3 ; “θεῶν ἔρημα εἶναι πάντα” Pl.Lg. 908c.

2. of persons, bereft of, “συμμάχων” Hdt.7.160 ; “πατρός” S. OC1719(lyr.); “πατρὸς ἢ μητρός” Pl.Lg.927d ; “πρὸς φίλων” S.Ant.919; so ἔ. οἶκος a house without heirs, Is.7.31.

3. with no bad sense, wanting, without, “ἐσθὴς ἐρῆμος ὅπλων” Hdt.9.63; free from, “ἀνδρῶν κακῶν ἔρημος πόλις” Pl.Lg.862e.

III. ἐρήμη, rarely ἔρημος (with or more commonly without γραφή, δίκη, δίαιτα), ἡ, an undefended action, in which one party does not appear, and judgement goes against him by default, ἤλπιζε.. τὴν γραφὴν..ἐρήμην ἔσεσθαι would be undefended, Antipho 2.1.7 ; “ἐρήμῃ δίκῃ θάνατον καταγιγνώσκειν τινός” Th.6.61 ; δίκην εἷλον ἐρήμην I got judgement by default, D.21.81 ; “ἐρήμην αὐτὸν λαβόντες..εἷλον” Lys.20.18 ; τὴν ἔρημον δεδωκότα having given it by default in one's favour, D.21.85 ; ἔρημον ὦφλε δίκην he let it go by default, ib.87, cf. Antipho 5.13 ; “ἐρήμην τινὸς καταγνῶναι τὴν δίαιταν” D.33.33 ; “ἐρήμην καταδιαιτῆσαί τινος” Id.40.17 ; γενομένης ἐρήμου κατὰ Μειδίου Test. ap. eund.21.93 ; ἐρήμην κατηγορεῖν to accuse in a case where there was no defence, Pl.Ap.18c, cf. D.21.87 ; ἐρήμην or ἐξ ἐρήμης κρατεῖν, Luc.Anach.40, JTr.25 ; “ἁλῶναι” Id.Tox.11, etc.

2. unclaimed, vacant, Arist.Ath.43.4, EN1125b17, Is.3.61.

3. for ἐρήμας τρυγᾶν v. sub τρυγάω.