λαός

Alternative forms

• λεώς (leṓs) (Attic)
• ληός (lēós) (Ionic)

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *lāwós, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂wos (“people (under arms)”), from *leh₂- (“military action”).^[1] Cognate with Hittite [script needed] (laḫḫa-, “campaign”) and Phrygian λαϝαγταει (lawagtaei).

Pronunciation

Noun

λᾱός • (lāós) m (genitive λᾱοῦ); second declension

1. people, people assembled, the people of a country
2. the soldiers
3. common people (as opposed to leaders or priests); the subjects of a prince

References

Further reading

• λαός in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• λαός in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• λαός in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• λαός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• λαός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• λαός in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2992 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • commons idem, page 149.
  • people idem, page 604.
• Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q., editors (1997) Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 31a

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λαός (laós).

Noun

λαός • (laós) m (plural λαοί)

1. people, the mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.