LOGOI

The corpus record

γέρων

geron · ὁ

old man, Elders, Chiefs, Senators

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

  • Heracles 33 · 42.16/10k
  • Machabaeorum IV 12 · 15.55/10k
  • Oedipus at Colonus 16 · 15.45/10k
  • Bacchae 11 · 14.63/10k
  • Electra 10 · 13.23/10k
  • Iliad 133 · 11.93/10k
  • Phoenissae 11 · 11.4/10k
  • Odyssey 84 · 9.66/10k
  • Suppliants 6 · 8.53/10k
  • Hecuba 6 · 8.38/10k
  • De Memoria et Reminiscentia 2 · 8.32/10k
  • Ion 6 · 6.56/10k

Densest 12 of 59 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant — LSJ

old man

old man, Il. 1.33, etc.: pleon., παλαιοὶ γέροντες Ar. Ach. 676; ἄνους τε καὶ γ. S. Ant. 281, cf. Ar. Eq. 1349; ἀεὶ γὰρ ἡβᾷ τοῖς γέρουσιν εὖ μαθεῖν A. Ag. 584; καλὸν δὲ καὶ γέροντα μανθάνειν σοφά Id. Fr. 396.

2 Elders, Chiefs, Senators

γέροντες, οἱ, Elders, Chiefs, κίκλησκεν δὲ γέροντας ἀριστῆας Παναχαιῶν Il. 2.404 sq., cf. 9.574, Od. 2.14; later, Senators, esp. at Sparta, Hdt. 1.65, 6.57, Pl. Lg. 692a, IG 2(2).687, Arist. Pol. 1265b38 (sg. γέροντι IG 5(1).1346, but usu. γερουσίας, q. v.); in other states, as at Elis, Arist. Pol. 1306a17, cf. 1272a7, OGI 479.11 (Dorylaeum).

II old, the Elder

as Adj., old, γέρον σάκος Od. 22.184; γ. γράμμα A. Fr. 331; more freq. in masc., γ. πατήρ Il. 1.358, Od. 18.53; ἀνὴρ γ. Thgn. 1351; γ. χαλκός Simon. 144; γ. λόγος A. Ag. 750 (lyr.); ἵππος S. El. 25; πόνος Id. OC 1258 (codd. but πίνος Scaliger, edd.); οἶνος Alex. 167.5, cf. Eub. 124; πέπλος, λέμβος, Theoc. 7.17, 21.12: rarely in Prose, οἱ γέροντες τῶν ἰχθύων Arist. HA 607b28; of stags, ib. 611b3; Ἀντίγονος ὁ γ. Antigonus the Elder, Plu. Pel. 2: neut. pl., γέροντα βουλεύεις (for ἀρχαῖα) S. Fr. 794

III part of the spinning-wheel

part of the spinning-wheel, Pherecr. 114. (Skt. járant- ‘old’, járati ‘render infirmʼ; cf. γέρας.)

In the wild

6 of 506 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. γέρων (scan p. 315; entry #1421).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. γέρων (scan pp. 231-232; entry #1597).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. γέρων (scan pp. 333-334; entry #1284).

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