λόχος (lochos)

Where it lives

Rhesus 7 · 13.02/10k
Phoenissae 9 · 9.32/10k
Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 4 · 8.23/10k
Anabasis 34 · 6.05/10k
Seven Against Thebes 3 · 5.96/10k
Suppliants 4 · 5.69/10k
Eumenides 2 · 3.82/10k
Cyropaedia 25 · 3.17/10k
Trojan Women 2 · 2.83/10k
Acharnians 2 · 2.82/10k
Suppliant Maidens 1 · 2.07/10k
Oedipus at Colonus 2 · 1.93/10k

Densest 12 of 29 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. λοχός · lochos — LSJ

2. λόχος · lochos — LSJ

I ambush

ambush, i.e.

1 place for lying in wait

place for lying in wait, εἰγὰρ νῦν παρὰ νηυσὶ λεγοίμεθα πάντες ἄριστοι ἐς λ. Il. 13.277; ἐκ λ. ἀμπήδησε 11.379; κοῖλος λ., of the wooden horse, Od. 4.277, 8.515; ξεστὸς λ. E. Tr. 534 (lyr.); ὠδίνων λ. Lyc. 342; ξύλινος λ., of the enemyʼs ships, Orac. ap. Hdt. 3.57.

2 ambuscade, ambush, an ambush

ambuscade, ἐσίζεσθαι λόχον ἀνδρῶν take up oneʼs post in ambush, Il. 13.285; λόχον εἷσαι place an ambush, 4.392, Od. 4.531; εἷσε δέ μιν κρύψασα λόχῳ Hes. Th. 174; λόχον ἀρτύνειν Od. 14.469; λόχονδʼ ἰέναι Il. 1.227; ὁπότε κρίνοιμι λόχονδε ἄνδρας ἀριστῆας Od. 14.217; φύτευέ οἱ θάνατον ἐκ λόχου Pi. N. 4.60; δεινοῖς κρυπτομένα λόχοις Ἐρινύς S. El. 490 (lyr.); τὸν εὔαγρον τελειῶσαὶ λ. Id. OC 1089 (lyr.).

b the way to ambush

c. gen. objecti, λόχος θείοιο γέροντος the way to ambush him, Od. 4.395.

3 the men that form the ambush

the men that form the ambush, μὴ λ. εἰσέλθῃσι πόλιν Il. 8.522, cf. E. Andr. 1114, etc.

b any armed band, body of troops

any armed band, body of troops (of foot, rarely of horse, Arr. Alan. 20), Od. 20.49; also in Trag., A. Th. 56, 460, S. OC 1371, etc.: metaph., παρθένων ἱκέσιος λ. A. Th. 111 (lyr.); θαυμαστὸς λ. γυναικῶν, of the Furies, Id. Eu. 46, cf. 1026; ἐλάφων κεραὸς λ. AP 9.244 (Apollonid.); ἐμῶν προγόνων λ. OGI 383.48 (Nemrud Dagh, i B.C.).

c a company, the fourth, fifth part of a μόρα, company

in historical writers, mostly, a company, reckoned at 24 men in X. Cyr. 6.3.21, but at 100 in Id. An. 3.4.21, 4.8.15; in the Spartan army, the fourth or fifth part of a μόρα (q.v.), Hdt. 9.53, 57, cf. Th. 5.68, Arist. Fr. 541, etc.; ὁ Πιτανάτης λ. Th. 1.20; ὁ ἱερὸς λ. the sacred company at Thebes, Din. 1.73, Plu. Pel. 18; also at Carthage, D.S. 16.80, 20.10; later λ., = 16 men, Ascl. Tact. 2.7, Ael. Tact. 4.3, Arr. Tact. 5.5; but of light-armed, 8 men, Ascl. l.c., Arr. Tact. 14.2.

d any body of people united

any body of people united for civil purposes, X. Hier. 9.5, Arist. Pol. 1309a12; αἱ ἐν λόχοις συντέλειαι (where λόχοι seems to represent συμμορίαι) Catal. ap. D. 18.106.

e

= Lat. centuria, D.H. 4.16, App. BC 1.59, etc.

f

= Lat. curia, D.H. 2.7.

II child-birth

child-birth, A. Ag. 137 (lyr.): pl., Id. Supp. 677 (lyr.).

III

dub. sens. in SIG 1002.8 (Milet., v/iv B.C.).

In the wild

λόχου · lochou Aeschylus, Agamemnon 133–138
λόχος · lochos Aeschylus, Eumenides 1025–1027
λόχος · lochos Aeschylus, Eumenides 46–47
λόχον · lochon Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 110–111
λόχον · lochon Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 458–460
λόχον · lochon Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 55–56

6 of 152 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

No etymology authority pointer is recorded for this lemma yet — an honest gap, not an omission. The etymological dictionaries (Beekes, Chantraine, Frisk) are matched incrementally.

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