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ἔθνος

ethnos

group, crowd, swarm

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Where it lives

Densest 12 of 97 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. ἔθνος · ethnos — Beekes

ἔθνος [n.] ‘group, crowd, swarm’ (of people, animals; Hom., Pi.), ‘class, people’ (Hdt.), ‘foreign people’ (Arist.), ta ἔθνη ‘the pagans’ (NT); on the mg. Chantraine BSL 43 (1946): 52ff. «ἡ» *COMP As a first member in ἐθν-άρχης ‘governor, prince’ (LXX, J., NT), as a second member in ὁμο-εθνής ‘belonging to the same people’ (Hdt.), ἀλλο-εθνής (Hell.), etc. *DER ἐθνικός ‘belonging to a (foreign) people, national, … — [Beekes, s.v. ἔθνος, p. 424]

2. ἔθνος · ethnos — Chantraine

ἔθνος, ὀθνεῖος, etc. : Ἔθνος ἢ. « groupe » plus ou moins permanent d'individus, soldats, animaux (Hom., Pi. Æsch.) d’où vnation, classe, caste» (Hdt., ion.-att.}, «sexe» (X.), «peuple étranger, barbare» (Arist., etc.) d'où τὰ ἔθνη « les Gentils » (NT), cf. Chantraine, BSL 43, 1946, 52-55. Composés rares comme second membre 7 ex. notamment ὁμοεθνῆς «du même peuple» {Hdt., etc.) ἀλλοεθνῆς « appartenant à un autre … — [Chantraine, s.v. ἔθνος, p. 329]

3. ἔθνος · ethnos — LSJ

number of people living together, company, body of men, band, host, swarms, flocks

number of people living together, company, body of men, ἑτάρων ἔ., ἔ. ἑταίρων, band of comrades, Il. 3.32, 7.115, etc.; ἔθνος λαῶν host of men, 13.495; of particular tribes, Λυκίων μέγα ἔ. 12.330; Ἀχαιῶν ἔ. 17.552: pl., ἔθνεα πεζῶν 11.724, cf. 2.91; ἔ. νεκρῶν Od. 10.526; of animals, ἔ. μελισσάων, ὀρνίθων, μυιάων, swarms, flocks, etc., Il. 2.87, 459, 469; ἔθνη θηρῶν S. Ph. 1147 (lyr.), Ant. 344; ἔ. ἀνέρων, γυναικῶν, Pi. O. 1.66, P. 4.252; ἔ. βρότεον, θνατόν, Id. N. 3.74, 11.42; ἔ. τόδε, of the Er

2 nation, people

after Hom., nation, people, τὸ Μηδικὸν ἔ. (γένος being a subdivision of ἔθνος) Hdt. 1.101; ἔ. ἠπειρογενές, μαχαιροφόρον, A. Pers. 43, 56 (anap.), etc.; τῶν μηδισάντων ἐθνέων τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν Hdt. 9.106.

b foreign, barbarous nations, clubs of non-Athenians, non-Jews, Gentiles, Gentile Christians

later, τὰ ἔ. foreign, barbarous nations, opp. Ἕλληνες, Arist. Pol. 1324b10; ἔ. νομάδων, of Bedawîn, LW 2203 (Syria); at Athens, athletic clubs of non-Athenians, IG 2.444, al.; in LXX, non-Jews, LXX Ps. 2.1, al., cf. Act.Ap. 7.45; Gentiles, τῶν ἐθνῶν τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων ib. 14.5, etc.; used of Gentile Christians, Ep. Rom. 15.27.

c province, province

at Rome, = provinciae, App. BC 2.13, Hdn. 1.2.1, PStrassb. 22.19 (iii A. D.), D.C. 36.41, etc.: so in sg., province, ὁ τυραννήσας τοῦ ἔθνους D.Chr. 43.11; ὁ ἡγούμενος τοῦ ἔθνους the governor of the province, POxy. 1020.5 (iii A. D.).

3 class, caste, tribe, orders, trade-associations, guilds, class

class of men, caste, tribe, τὸ Θετταλῶν . . πενεστικὸν ἔ. Pl. Lg. 776d; ἔθνος κηρυκικόν Id. Plt. 290b; οἶσθά τι ἔ. ἠλιθιώτερον ῥαψῳδῶν; X. Smp. 3.6; δημιουργικὸν ἔ. Pl. Grg. 455b, cf. Arist. Ath. 3; ἔ. βραχμάνων D.S. 17.102; τὰ ἱερὰ ἔ. the orders of priests, OGI 90.17 (ii B. C.); trade-associations or guilds, ἔθνη καὶ ἐργαστήρια PPetr. 3p.67 (iii B. C.), al.; class in respect to rank or station, οὐ πρὸς τοῦτο βλέποντες . . ὅπως . . ἕν τι ἔ. ἔσται διαφερόντως εὔδαιμον Pl. R. 420b, cf. 421c, D. 21

4 sex

sex, θῆλυ, ἄρρεν ἔ., X. Oec. 7.26.

5 part, member

part, member, Hp. Loc.Hom. 1.

II a relation

of a single person, a relation, Pi. N. 5.43.

In the wild

6 of 1,457 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. ἔθνος (scan pp. 424-425; entry #1893). Root candidates: *sue-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ἔθνος (scan p. 329; entry #2273).

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