The corpus record

μῆκος

mekos

length

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

Where it lives

Ezechiel 42 · 14.53/10k
Critias 6 · 12.14/10k
Ars Poetica 9 · 8.9/10k
The Funeral Speech 51-61 2 · 7.97/10k
Letter 2 1 · 7.84/10k
Philip's Letter 1 · 7.12/10k
Exodus 15 · 6.34/10k
De longitudine et brevitate vitae 1 · 5.68/10k
Statesman 9 · 5.31/10k
De Mundo 3 · 4.73/10k
On Hunting 4 · 4.39/10k
Ephesians 1 · 4.15/10k

Densest 12 of 72 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. μῆκος · mēkos — Beekes

μῆκος [n.] ‘length’ (Od.). «1Ὲ *meh.k-os- ‘length’, *mh,k- ‘long’> *DIAL Dor. μᾶκος (Archyt.). «COMP Often as a second member, e.g. περι-μήκης, Dor. -μάκης ‘very long, very high’ (IL), with expressive enlargement περιμήκ-ετος ‘id. (Hom., Arat.), after πάχετος, ἀριδείκετος, ἀμαιμάκετος, etc. eDER Superlative μήκιστος (Dor. μάκιστος) ‘longest, highest, greatest’ (11, with Μηκιστεύς PN (Il); compar. μάσσων, ntr. μᾶσσον … — [Beekes, s.v. μῆκος, p. 993]

2. μῆκος · mēkos — Chantraine

2) μῆκος, dor. μᾶχκος (Archyt.) n. «longueur» dans l'espace ou le temps, parfois «grandeur» (Od., ion.- att., etc.); une trentaine de composés en -μήκης : περιμήκης «très long, très haut» (Hom., ion., poètes) avec περιμήκετος «très haut» (Hom., Arat.) qui a la même sufixation que πάχετος ; en outre, ἀνδρο-μήχης, ἐπι-, ed, ico-, προ-, ὑπερ-, etc. Dérivés tardifs et rares : μηκεδανός «long » (AP, Nonnus), arrangement … — [Chantraine, s.v. μῆκος, p. 678]

3. μῆκος · mēkos — Frisk

μῆκος, dor. μᾶκος (Archyt.) n. ‘Länge, Körperlänge’ (seit Od.). Oft als Hinterglied, z.B. περι-μήκης, dor. -μάχης ‘sehr lang, sehr hoch’ (ep. ion. poet. seit Il), mit expressiver Erweiterung περιμήκ-ετος “ds. (Hom., Arat.), nach πάχετος, ἀριδείκετος, ἀμαιμάκετος τ΄. ἃ. (Schwyzer 501, Seiler Steigerungsformen 75). — Im Anschluß an μῆκος der Sup. unxıorog, dor. μάκιστος “längst, höchst, größt’ (vorw. ep. poet. seit … — [Frisk, s.v. μῆκος, p. 1196]

4. μῆκος · mēkos — Frisk

μῆκος. Zum mehrdeutigen toch. A mäk, B mäka ‘viel’ 5. μέγας Nachtr. — [Frisk, s.v. μῆκος, p. 2278]

5. μῆκος · mēkos — LSJ

length, in length, lengthwise, a long distance, lengths

length, of a club, τόσσον ἔην μῆκος, τόσσον πάχος so large was it in length, so large in thickness, Od. 9.324; φιλότης ἴση μ. τε πλάτος τε Emp. 17.20, cf. Hdt. 1.181, etc.; ἐς μῆκος Id. 2.155; εἰς τὸ μῆκος LXX Ge. 12.6; ἐν μήκει καὶ πλάτει καὶ βάθει Pl. Sph. 235d, cf. Gorg. 3, Arist. Ph. 209a5; ἐπὶ μῆκος lengthwise, ἐπὶ μ. ἔκτασις Id. HA 504a15, al.; κατὰ μῆκος Id. Mete. 387a2; μ. ὁδοῦ A. Fr. 378, Hdt. 1.72, etc.; πλοῦ Th. 6.34; μᾶκος ἔδικε threw a long distance, Pi. O. 10(11).72: pl., μήκη καὶ

b height, stature, in height

height, of a wall, Ar. Av. 1130; of persons, stature, Od. 20.71; μῆκος in height, 11.312; εἰς μ. αὐξάνεσθαι X. Lac. 2.6.

c in linear measurement, linearity, one-dimensional magnitude, in the first power

generally, μήκει in linear measurement, Pl. Tht. 147d, cf. 148a; linearity, one-dimensional magnitude, opp. ἐπίπεδον, βάθος, Id. Lg. 817e: in Arith., in the first power, Theol.Ar. 3,4.

2 long, at length

of Time, μ. χρόνου A. Pr. 1020; ἐν μ. χρόνου S. Tr. 69; ἐν χρόνου τινὸς μήκεσιν ἀπλέτοις Pl. Lg. 683a; μ. λόγου, μ. τῶν λόγων, a long speech, A. Eu. 201, S. OC 1139; ἐν μήκει λόγων διελθεῖν Th. 4.62; μῆκος at length, εἰπέ μοι μὴ μ., ἀλλὰ σύντομα S. Ant. 446.

3 greatness, magnitude, in greatness

of Size or Degree, greatness, magnitude, ὄλβου Emp. 119; μῆκος in greatness, ἔοικεν ἄλλῃ μ. οὐδὲν ἡδονῇ S. Ant. 393.

4 longitude

longitude, Str. 1.4.5, Cleom. 2.1, Ptol. Alm. 2.12, Vett.Val. 260.5, etc.

5 length

in Prosody, length, opp. βραχύτης, Arist. Po. 1456b32, D.H. Comp. 15: pl., μήκη καὶ βραχύτητας προσῆπτε Pl. R. 400b.

6 first line of phalanx

first line of phalanx, Ascl. Tact. 2.5. (From same Root as μακρός. Hence μήκιστος, Sup. of μακρός.)

In the wild

μῆκος · mēkos Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1–9
μήκει · mēkei Aeschylus, Agamemnon 606–610
μῆκος · mēkos Aeschylus, Eumenides 201
μῆκος · mēkos Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1020
μῆκος · mēkos Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens 735
μῆκός · mēkos Aristophanes, Birds 1130 (DIORISIS sentence 830)

6 of 307 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. μῆκος (scan p. 993; entry #4059).
Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. μῆκος (scan p. 678; entry #5006). Root candidates: *makro-.
Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. μῆκος (scan pp. 1196-1197; entry #3863).

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