LOGOI

The corpus record

ὕλη

ule · ἡ

forest, woodland

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

Where it lives

  • Metaphysics 290 · 36.93/10k
  • Enneads 561 · 26.46/10k
  • De longitudine et brevitate vitae 4 · 22.71/10k
  • On Hunting 11 · 12.09/10k
  • Critias 5 · 10.12/10k
  • De Respiratione 5 · 8.23/10k
  • Economics 13 · 7.31/10k
  • Meditations 19 · 6.53/10k
  • James 1 · 5.85/10k
  • Discourses 40 · 5.39/10k
  • Works and Days 3 · 5.2/10k
  • Fragments 2 · 5.02/10k

Densest 12 of 42 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant — LSJ

forest, woodland, forest, forest-trees, forest-trees, copse, brushwood, undergrowth

forest, woodland, Il. 11.155, Od. 17.316, Ep.Jac. 3.5, etc.; γῆν . . δασέαν ὕλῃ παντοίῃ Hdt. 4.21; ἀπʼ ὕλης ἀγρίης ζώειν Id. 1.203; ὕλα ἀεργός virgin forest, Berl.Sitzb. 1927.167 (Cyrene); τὰ δένδρα καὶ ὕλη fruit-trees and forest-trees, Th. 4.69 (cf. δένδρον); not only of forest-trees, but also of copse, brushwood, undergrowth (cf. ὕλημα), directly opp. to timber-trees, X. An. 1.5.1, Oec. 16.13, 17.12, PSI 6.577.8 (iii B. C.), Sor. 1.40: also in pl., h.Cer. 386, Hecat. 291 J., Mosch. 3.88, Plb.

II wood cut down, firewood, fuel, brushwood, timber, twigs

wood cut down, Od. 5.257 (cf. III); firewood, fuel, Il. 7.418, 23.50, 111, al., Od. 9.234, Hdt. 4.164, 6.80; brushwood, Id. 7.36, Th. 2.75, etc.; timber, ὕ. ναυπηγησίμη Pl. Lg. 705c; ναυπηγήσιμος καὶ οἰκοδομική Thphr. HP 5.7.1, cf. IG 42(1).102.50 (Epid., iv B. C.); also, twigs for birds’ nests, Arist. HA 559a2.

III the stuff, material, material, materials

the stuff of which a thing is made, material, (perh. so of wood), Od. 5.257; rarely of other material, as metal, οἱ παρʼ ἄκμονι . . ὕλην ἄψυχον δημιουργοῦντες Plu. Praec. 2.802b (cf. S. Fr. 844, but ὕλη is Plutarchʼs word): generally, materials, PMasp. 151.91 (vi A. D.).

2 matter

in Philosophy, matter, first in Arist. (Ti.Locr. 93b, al. is later); defined as τὸ ὑποκείμενον γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς δεκτικόν, GC 320a2; as τὸ ἐξ οὗ γίγνεται, Metaph. 1032a17; οὐσία ἥ τε ὕ. καὶ τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὸ ἐκ τούτων ib. 1035a2; opp. as δυνάμει τόδε τι to τόδε τι ἐνεργεία, ib. 1042a27; opp. ἐντελέχεια, ib. 1038b6: in later philosoph. writers, mostly opp. to the intelligent and formative principle (νοῦς), Procl. Inst. 72, etc.; ὕ. τῶν ἀριθμῶν Iamb. Comm.Math. 4.

3 matter, matter

matter for a poem or treatise, ὕ. τραγική, ποιητικαὶ ὗλαι, Plb. 2.16.14, Longin. 13.4, cf. 43.1, Vett.Val. 172.1, etc.; ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕ. the subject-matter, Arist. EN 1094b12, cf. Phld. Rh. 2.124 S.

4 materia, materia medica

ὕ. ἰατρική materia medica, Dsc. tit.; so ὕλη alone, materia medica, Id. 1 Prooem., Gal. 17(2).181; ὗλαι τῆς τέχνης ibid., cf. 6.77, Sor. 1.83, 110, 2.15, 28; ἡ ὕ. τῶν ὁπλομαχικῶν ἐνεργειῶν Gal. 6.157.

b range of diet

ἡ μέση ὕλη the middle range of diet, Sor. 1.46, 2.15; τροφιμωτέρα ὕλη Id. 1.95, cf. 36.

5 material resources

pl., material resources, βασιλικαὶ ὗλαι Ph. 1.640.

IV sediment, mud, slime

sediment, Ar. Fr. 879, cf. Sch. Ar. Pl. 1086, 1088 (hence ὑλίζω (ἀφ-, δι-), ὑλώδης II); mud, slime, UPZ 70.9 (ii B. C.); ὕλῃ, ὕλει, and ἰλυῖ are cj. for ὕδει in Thgn. 961.

2 matter, phlegm, catarrh

matter excreted from the human body, Sor. 1.22, 23, 25, al.; ἡ ὕ. τῶν ἐμπυημάτων Gal. 18(2).256; phlegm, catarrh, PMed. in Arch.Pap. 4.270 (iii A. D.).

In the wild

6 of 1,089 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. ὕλη (scan pp. 1580-1581; entry #6220). Root candidates: *suel-, *syel-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ὕλη (scan pp. 1173-1174; entry #8230).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. ὕλη (scan pp. 1934-1935; entry #5822).

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