previous next
πτερόν , τό, (πέτομαι, πτέσθαι) mostly in pl.,
A.feathers, Od.15.527, Hdt.2.73, etc.: in sg., feather, E.Rh.618, Ar.Ach.584, 1105; πτεροῦ σῦριγξ quill, Hp.Fist.6; “τὰ ὦτα πτερῷ κνωμένοις” Luc.Salt.2; “ἀντὶ τριχῶν πτερὰ φύειν” Pl.Ti.91d (cf. Ar.Av.106); “ἡ τῶν π. ἀποβολή” Pl.Phdr. 246d: prov., πόνου δ᾽ ἴδοις ἂν οὐδαμοῦ ταὐτὸν π. misery is of varied plumage, i.e. manifold, A.Supp.329; τοῖς αὑτῶν π. ἁλίσκεσθαι to be shot with an arrow feathered from one's own plumes, 'hoist with one's own petard', Id.Fr.139; ἀλλοτρίοις π. ἀγάλλεσθαι pride oneself on 'borrowed plumes', Luc.Pro Merc.Cond.4; κείρευ πτερά 'have your wings clipped', Call.Epigr.47.8.
2. = πτέρυξ, bird's wing, freq. in pl., wings, Il.11.454, Od.2.151, etc. (sg., A.Fr.304.4); “οἶμον αἰθέρος ψαίρει πτεροῖς” Id.Pr.396; Παλλάδος ὑπὸ πτεροῖς ὄντας, metaph. from chickens under the hen's wings, Id.Eu.1001 (lyr.); “τὰ τέκν᾽ ἔχων ὑπὸ πτεροῖς” E.Heracl.10, etc.: as an emblem of speed, “ὡσεὶ π. ἠὲ νόημα” Od.7.36; “πόδα τιθεὶς ἴσον πτεροῖς” E.IT32; δοκεῖτε πηδᾶν τἀδικήματ᾽ εἰς θεοὺς πτεροῖσι; Id.Fr.506; also τῷ δ᾽ εὖτε πτερὰ γίγνετο he got as it were wings, i.e. spirit, courage, Il.19.386; νωμᾷ δ᾽ ἐν οἰωνοῖσι τοὐκείνης (sc. Ἀφροδίτης） πτερόν, ἐν θηρσίν, ἐν βροτοῖσιν, ἐν θεοῖς her uplifting influence, S.Fr.941.11.
3. wings of a bat, Hdt.2.76; of insects, Arist.HA532a25, PA682b18, al.
II. any winged creature, as the Sphinx, E.Ph.806 (lyr.); a beetle, Ar.Pax76.
2. omen, πιστὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν π. S.OC97.
III. anything like wings or feathers: as
1. oars, “ἐρετμά, τά τε πτερὰ νηυσὶ πέλονται” Od.11.125; “νηὸς πτερά” Hes.Op.628 (unless sails, cf. “πτίλον” 111.2); ὅπῃ νεὼς στείλαιμ᾽ ἂν οὔριον π. E.Hel.147; “σκάφος ἀΐσσον πτεροῖσι” Id.Tr.1086 (lyr.): hence conversely, of birds, “πτεροῖς ἐρέσσει” Id.IT289; πτερῶν εἰρεσίᾳ, of Hermes, Luc.Tim.40.
2. ἀέθλων πτερά, i.e. the crown of victory, which lifts the victor to heaven, Pi.O.14.24, cf.P.9.125.
3. sg., wings of the wind, dub. in S.Fr.23.3.
4. fan or parasol, Com. Adesp.1129.
5. π. ἱέρακος a hawk's wing, worn by the ἱερογραμματεύς in Egypt, D.S.1.87.
6. feathered arrow, E.Hel.76.
7. ploughshare, Lyc. 1072.
8. side-walls of Egyptian temples, Str.17.1.28, Plu.2.359a.
b. battlements, Procop.Aed.2.8.
c. portcullis, or drawbridge, in gateways, Sch.E.Ph.114.
9. πτερὰ Θετταλικά were the fluttering corners of a χλαμύς (v. “πτέρυξ” 11.4), Poll. 7.46.
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 (37 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (37):
    • Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1001
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 396
    • Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens, 329
    • Aristophanes, Acharnians, 584
    • Aristophanes, Birds, 106
    • Aristophanes, Peace, 76
    • Euripides, Helen, 76
    • Euripides, Helen, 147
    • Euripides, Heraclidae, 10
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 289
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 32
    • Euripides, Phoenician Women, 806
    • Euripides, Phoenician Women, 114
    • Euripides, Rhesus, 618
    • Euripides, Trojan Women, 1086
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.73
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.76
    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 111.2
    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 628
    • Homer, Odyssey, 2.151
    • Homer, Odyssey, 7.36
    • Homer, Odyssey, 11.125
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 246d
    • Plato, Timaeus, 91d
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 97
    • Strabo, Geography, 17.1.28
    • Homer, Iliad, 11.454
    • Homer, Iliad, 19.386
    • Homer, Odyssey, 15.527
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 941.11
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 1129
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 23.3
    • Aristophanes, Acharnians, 1105
    • Hippocrates, De fistulis, 6
    • Lucian, Timon, 40
    • Lucian, De saltatione, 2
    • Diodorus, Historical Library, 1.87
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: