Trivia: Is χρυσελεφαντήλεκτρος the longest word in Greek?
Posted: January 4th, 2014, 3:40 am
Is this two termination adjective χρυσελεφαντήλεκτρος "overlaid with gold, ivory and amber" found in
No, but in prose it is up there with the best of them (Griechische Wortbildungslehre section 161), but there seems to be one bigger in verse; It is the 22 letter τορνευτολυρασπιδοπηγός "lyre-tunner and shield-maker" of Aristophanes, Birds 491
cf. Griechische Wortbildungslehre Section 83 and Section 161 thanks to Edgar Krentz and Jonathan Robie for the reference and source]
- with 20 letters as it is used here - the longest word in Greek?Plutarch, [i]Timoleon[/i] 31.1 wrote: τάσδ᾽ ὀστρειογραφεῖς καὶ χρυσελεφαντηλέκτρους ἀσπίδας ἀσπιδίοις εἵλομεν εὐτελέσι.
"These bucklers, purple-painted, decked with ivory, gold, and amber,
We captured with our simple little shields." [Bernadotte Perrin, 1918 (tr.)]
No, but in prose it is up there with the best of them (Griechische Wortbildungslehre section 161), but there seems to be one bigger in verse; It is the 22 letter τορνευτολυρασπιδοπηγός "lyre-tunner and shield-maker" of Aristophanes, Birds 491
cf. Griechische Wortbildungslehre Section 83 and Section 161 thanks to Edgar Krentz and Jonathan Robie for the reference and source]