previous next
κρείσσων , ον, gen. ονος, as always in Ep. and old Att.; later Att. κρείττων ; Ion. κρέσσων Hp.Fract.3, al., v.l. in Dionys.Trag. (v. infr. 11); Dor. κάρρων (q.v.); Cret. κάρτων Leg.Gort.1.15:—Comp. of κρατύς (v. κράτιστος),
A.stronger, mightier, “κ. βασιλεύς, ὅτε χώσεται ἀνδρὶ χέρηϊ” Il.1.80; esp. in battle, “κρείσσοσιν ἶφι μάχεσθαι” 21.486; “Διὸς κ. νόος ἠέ περ ἀνδρῶν” 16.688; “κεραυνοῦ κρέσσον . . βέλος” Pi.I.8(7).36, cf. Hdt.7.172, Hp.l.c., etc.; “κρείσσων χεῖρας” Antipho 4.4.7; “τὸ τοῦ κ. συμφέρον” Pl.R.338c, cf. Democr.267: hence, having the upper hand, superior, “ὁππότερος δέ κε νικήσῃ κ. τε γένηται” Il.3.71; “κ. ἀρετῇ τε βίῃ τε” 23.578: as Law-term, of witnesses, “κάρτονανς ἦμεν” prevail, Leg.Gort.l.c.
2. freq. as Comp. of ἀγαθός, better, κρέσσονες one's betters, esp. in point of rank, Pi.O.10(11).39, N.10.72 (but also, the stronger, more powerful, E.Or.710, Th.1.8, etc.); “ἐς τοὺς τοκέας καὶ ἐς τοὺς κρέσσονας τεθυμῶσθαι” Hdt.3.52, cf. SIG685.134 (Magn. Mae., ii B. C.); οἱ κ. corps of guards at Thebes, Plu.2.598e; κρείσσονες θεοί, of the greater gods, as opp. to Oceanus, A.Pr.902 (lyr.); “ὁ κ. Ζεύς” Id.Ag.60 (anap.); οἱ κ. the Higher Powers, Id.Fr.10, Pl.Sph.216b, Euthd.291a, etc.; τὰ κρείσσω, = τὰ θεῖα, E.Ion973; τὸ κ. the Almighty, Providence, Corp.Herm.18.11, Jul.Ep.204, Agath.1.16, Procop.Gaz. Pan.p.492; τὰ κρείσσονα one's advantages, “τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἡμῖν κρείσσω καταπροδοῦναι” Th.4.10.
3. c. inf., οὔ τις ἐμεῖο κρείσσων . . δόμεναι no one has a better right to . . , Od.21.345; “οὐκ ἄλλος κ. παραμυθεῖσθαι” Pl. Plt.268b; κρεῖσσόν ἐστι c. inf., 'tis better to . . , “κ. γάρ ἐστιν εἰσάπαξ θανεῖν ἢ . . πάσχειν κακῶς” A.Pr.750, cf. 624, Hdt.3.52, etc.; “τὸ μὴ εἶναι κ. ἢ τὸ ζῆν κακῶς” S.Fr.488, cf. Apollod.Com.6; also κρείσσων εἰμί c. part., κ. γὰρ ἦσθα μηκέτ᾽ ὢν ἢ ζῶν τυφλός thou wert better not alive, than living blind, S.OT1368, cf. Aj.635 (lyr.); “κ. ἦν ὁ ἀγὼν μὴ γεγενημένος” Aeschin.1.192, cf. D.H.6.9.
II. c. gen. or ἤ, too great for, surpassing, beyond, “ὕψος κ. ἐκπηδήματος” A.Ag.1376; of evil deeds, κρείσσον᾽ ἀγχόνης too bad for hanging, S.OT1374; κρεῖσσον δεργμάτων too bad to look on, E.Hipp.1217; “θαυμάτων” Id.Ba.667; λέγετι σιγῆς κρεῖσσον （“κρέσσον” PSI9.1093) “ἢ σιγὴν ἔχε” Dionys.Trag. 6; “κρείσσον᾽ ἢ λέξαι λόγῳ τολμήματα” E.Supp.844; κ. ἢ λόγοισιν (sc. εἰπεῖν) Id.IT837; “ἀναρχία κ. πυρός” Id.Hec.608; πρᾶγμα ἐλπίδος κ. γεγενημένον worse than one expected, Th.2.64; “κ. λόγου τὸ κάλλος” X.Mem.3.11.1; “κ. τῆς ἡμετέρας δυνάμεως” Id.Cyr.7.5.9.
III. having control over, master of, esp. of desires and passions, “τῶν ἡδονῶν” Democr.214; “τοῦ ἔρωτος” X.Cyr.6.1.34; γαστρὸς καὶ κερδέων ib.4.2.45; αὑτῶν over themselves, Pl.Phdr.232a, al.; κ. χρημάτων superior to the influence of money, Th.2.60, Isoc.1.19; “τῶν συμμάχων κ.” X. Ath.2.1; also, putting oneself above, “κ. τοῦ δικαίου” Th.3.84; κρείσσους ὄντες . . τῷ λογισμῷ ἐς τὸ ἀνέλπιστον τοῦ βεβαίου having reasoned themselves into an absolute belief of the hopelessness of certainty, ib.83; φαύλους καὶ κρείττους τῆς παιδείας, = οὓς παιδευθῆναι ἀδύνατον (just below), Arist.Pol.1316a9.
IV. better, more excellent, “ἁρμονίη ἀφανὴς φανερῆς κ.” Heraclit.54; “κ. ἐπ᾽ ἀρετήν” Democr.181; ὁ κρείττων λόγος (opp. ὁ ἥσσων) Ar.Nu.113; κατὰ τὸ κ. in a higher sense, opp. κατὰ τὸ χεῖρον, Dam.Pr.7.
V. Adv. “κρεισσόνως” Antipho 4.4.6, Iamb.Myst.7.4; also “κρεῖσσον” S.OT176 (lyr.), OGI90.31 (Rosetta, ii B. C.). (κρέσσων from κρέτ-ψων, cf. κρέτος; κάρτων and κάρρων from κάρτ-ψων, cf. κάρτος; κρείσσων (like μείζων) prob. took ει from ὀλείζων.)
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

hide Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
Search for in
How to enter text in Greek:
hide References (47 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (47):
    • Aeschines, Against Timarchus, 192
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1376
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 60
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 750
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 902
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 624
    • Antiphon, Third Tetralogy, 4.7
    • Antiphon, Third Tetralogy, 4.6
    • Euripides, Bacchae, 667
    • Euripides, Hecuba, 608
    • Euripides, Hippolytus, 1217
    • Euripides, Ion, 973
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 837
    • Euripides, Orestes, 710
    • Euripides, Suppliants, 844
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.52
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.172
    • Homer, Iliad, 16.688
    • Homer, Iliad, 1.80
    • Homer, Iliad, 21.486
    • Homer, Odyssey, 21.345
    • Isocrates, To Demonicus, 19
    • Pseudo Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians, 2.1
    • Plato, Republic, 338c
    • Plato, Sophist, 216b
    • Plato, Statesman, 268b
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 232a
    • Plato, Euthydemus, 291a
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 635
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 176
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1368
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1374
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.84
    • Thucydides, Histories, 4.10
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.60
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.64
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 4.2.45
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 6.1.34
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.5.9
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 3.11.1
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.578
    • Homer, Iliad, 3.71
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 488
    • Aristophanes, Clouds, 113
    • Hippocrates, De fracturis, 3
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.8
    • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae, 6.9
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: