previous next
πτέρυξ (
A.“πτερύξ” Aristarch. ap. Hdn.Gr.1.45), υ^γος, ἡ: Ep. dat. pl. πτερύγεσσι: (πτερόν):—wing of a bird, Il.2.316; mostly pl., ib.462, Od.2.149, Hes.Sc.134, A.Ag.52 (anap.), etc.; λευκὴ πτεροῖσι, πλὴν . . ἄκρων τῶν πτερύγων white in its plumage, save . . the tips of the wings, of the ibis, Hdt.2.76; of Eros and Nike, Aristopho 11.8: metaph., κινοῦντα πτέρυγας ἤδη 'trying your wings', Lib.Ep.155.2.
2. winged creature, bird, AP6.12 (Jul.).
3. flight, augury, omen, ποίων (sc. ὀρνίχων）“ οὐκ ἀγαθαὶ πτέρυγες” Call.Lav.Pall.124.
II. anything like a wing,
1. in pl.,= πτερύγια, fins of fish, Arist. HA505b21, Mir.835b10, Ael.NA11.24; flippers of seals, Arist. PA697b5; of dolphins and whales, Id.HA537b3; of the tortoise, Nic.Al.559.
2. pl., feathery foliage, Thphr.HP3.9.6.
b. = ἄσπληνος 1, Dsc.3.134.
3. blade of the steering-paddle, IG22.1607.74: hence, rudder, S.Fr.1083; ἑξήρετμοι π., of oars, Epigr.Gr.337.2 (Cyzicus).
4. flap of a cuirass, X.An.4.7.15 (v.l.), cf. Eq.12.4, 6; of the Doric χιτών, Ar.Fr.325, Men.Epit.187, Com.Adesp.17.1 D., Plu.Comp.Lyc.Num.3, Poll.7.62.
5. broad edge of a knife or hunting-spear, Plu.Alex.16, Poll.5.21; beak of the sword-fish (v.l. ῥύγχος), Ael.NA9.40.
6. lobe of the lungs, Hp.Coac.394.
7. point of a building, Poll.7.121.
8. front frame of a torsion-engine, Hero Bel.101.8.
9. shoulder-blade, Philostr.Gym.30.
10. in pl., title of poem whose lines form a pattern like wings, AP15.24 (Simm.).
11. pl., sails, Com.Adesp.9 D., Lyr.Alex.Adesp.20.9.
III. anything that covers or protects like wings, “π. πέπλων” E.Ion 1143; κολπώδη πτέρυγ᾽ Εὐβοίας, i.e. Aulis, Id.IA120 (lyr.); “νεοσσὸς ὡσεὶ πτέρυγας εἰσπίτνων ἐμάς” Id.Tr.751; of a mountain, “Λιβάνου πτέρυγες” Musae.48.
2. fence, wall, Lyc.291.
IV. metaph., πτέρυγες γόων the wings, i.e. the flight or flow, of grief, S. El.242 (lyr.); “π. Πιερίδων” Pi.I.1.64.
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 (18 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (18):
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 52
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Aulis, 120
    • Euripides, Ion, 1143
    • Euripides, Trojan Women, 751
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.76
    • Hesiod, Shield of Heracles, 134
    • Homer, Odyssey, 2.149
    • Sophocles, Electra, 242
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 4.7.15
    • Xenophon, On the Art of Horsemanship, 12.4
    • Xenophon, On the Art of Horsemanship, 6
    • Homer, Iliad, 2.316
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 1083
    • Plutarch, Alexander, 16
    • Plutarch, Comparison of Lycurgus and Numa, 3
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 11.24
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 9.40
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Gymnastica, 30
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: