previous next
γενν-αῖος , α, ον, also ος, ον E.Hec.592: (γέννα):—
A.true to one's birth or descent (“εὐγενὲς μέν ἐστι τὸ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ γένους, γενναῖον δὲ τὸ μὴ ἐξιστάμενον ἐκ τῆς αὑτοῦ φύσεως” Arist.HA488b19, cf. Rh.1390b22), “οὔ μοι γενναῖον ἀλυσκάζοντι μάχεσθαι” Il.5.253 (nowhere else in Hom.); “γενναῖον δέ σοι ταχέως ὑπακούειν” Ar.Fr.28 D.: hence,
I. of persons, high-born, noble, Archil.107, etc.; “τέκνα” Hdt.1.173; “ὦ γονῇ γενναῖε” S.OT1469; “ἐσθλοὺς ἔκ τε γενναίων γεγῶτας” Id.Fr.107.3; “γενναῖός τις ἑπτὰ πάππους ἔχων ἀποφῆναι” Pl.Tht.174e; οἱ γ., opp. οἱ ἀγεννεῖς, Arist.Pol. 1296b22; so of animals, well-bred, “σκύλαξ” Pl.R. 375a, X.Cyr.1.4.15; opp. ἀγεννής, Arist.HA558b16.
2. noble in mind, high-minded, Hdt.3.140 (Sup.), S.El.129 (lyr.), etc.; τὸ γ., = γενναιότης, Id.OC 569; of actions, noble, Hdt.1.37; “λῆμα γ.” Pi.P.8.44; “τλάσας τὸ γ.” S. OC1640, cf. E.Alc.624; γ. ἔπος, λόγοι, πόνοι, S.Ph.1402, E.Heracl. 537, HF357 (lyr.).
3. as a form of polite speech, γενναῖος εἶ you are very good, Ar.Th.220.
b. ὦ γενναῖε, common form of address in Pl., as Grg.494e, cf. S.Ph.801; ironical, D.H.7.46.
II. of things, good of their kind, excellent, “μέλος” A.Fr.281.5; σταφυλή, σῦκα, Pl. Lg.844e; γενναίου . . ἄξιον οὐθενός of no great use, Ath.Mech.31.2; ironical, “γένει γ. σοφιστική” Pl.Sph.231b (cf. 1.1), etc.; genuine, intense, “δύη” S.Aj.938, etc.; violent, “σεισμός” Philostr. VA6.38; “θάλπη” Jul. Or. 2.101d.
b. γενναῖον: τὸ τῆς γενέσεως ἀρχηγόν, Hsch.
III. Adv. -αίως nobly, Hdt.7.139, Th.2.41, Pl.La. 196b, Men.672; “ὅρκος, πῆγμα γ. παγέν” A.Ag.1198; ironical, “μάλα γ. ἐπιλαθόμενον ὧν εὖ πάθοι” Jul. Or.3.125c: Comp. “-οτέρως” Pl.Tht.166c, Ps.-Callisth. 1.38: Sup. “-ότατα” E.Cyc.657 (lyr.).
2. irreg. Sup. “γενναιέστατος” Dinol. 10.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

hide Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
Search for in
How to enter text in Greek:
hide References (31 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (31):
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1198
    • Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae, 220
    • Euripides, Alcestis, 624
    • Euripides, Cyclops, 657
    • Euripides, Hecuba, 592
    • Euripides, Heracles, 357
    • Euripides, Heraclidae, 537
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.173
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.37
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.140
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.139
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.253
    • Plato, Laws, 844e
    • Plato, Republic, 375a
    • Plato, Sophist, 231b
    • Plato, Theaetetus, 166c
    • Plato, Theaetetus, 174e
    • Plato, Laches, 196b
    • Plato, Gorgias, 494e
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 938
    • Sophocles, Electra, 129
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 1640
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 569
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1469
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1402
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 801
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.41
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 1.4.15
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 107.3
    • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae, 7.46
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 6.38
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: