κλέπτης

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From κλεπ-, the root of κλέπτω (kléptō, “I steal”), +‎ -της (-tēs, masculine agentive suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /klép.tɛːs/ → /ˈklep.tis/ → /ˈklep.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /klép.tɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈklep.te̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈklep.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈklep.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈklep.tis/

Noun

κλέπτης • (kléptēs) m (genitive κλέπτου); first declension (Epic, Attic, Koine)

1. thief
   • New Testament, First Epistle to the Thessalonians 5:1–2:

     Περὶ δὲ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν, ἀδελφοί, οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε ὑμῖν γράφεσθαι· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκριβῶς οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτὶ οὕτως ἔρχεται.

     Perì dè tôn khrónōn kaì tôn kairôn, adelphoí, ou khreían ékhete humîn gráphesthai; autoì gàr akribôs oídate hóti hē hēméra Kuríou hōs kléptēs en nuktì hoútōs érkhetai.

     About the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need that there be written to you: for you yourselves know exactly that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

2. deceitful person

Declension

First declension of ὁ κλέπτης; τοῦ κλέπτου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κλέπτης ho kléptēs	τὼ κλέπτᾱ tṑ kléptā	οἱ κλέπται hoi kléptai
Genitive	τοῦ κλέπτου toû kléptou	τοῖν κλέπταιν toîn kléptain	τῶν κλεπτῶν tôn kleptôn
Dative	τῷ κλέπτῃ tōî kléptēi	τοῖν κλέπταιν toîn kléptain	τοῖς κλέπταις toîs kléptais
Accusative	τὸν κλέπτην tòn kléptēn	τὼ κλέπτᾱ tṑ kléptā	τοὺς κλέπτᾱς toùs kléptās
Vocative	κλέπτᾰ kléptă	κλέπτᾱ kléptā	κλέπται kléptai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• κλεπτήρ (kleptḗr)
• κλώψ (klṓps)
• λῃστής (lēistḗs)
• φώρ (phṓr)

Descendants

• English: klepton

References

• “κλέπτης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κλέπτης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κλέπτης”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κλέπτης in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• κλέπτης in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G2812 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • cheat idem, page 127.
  • defrauder idem, page 206.
  • embezzler idem, page 267.
  • pilferer idem, page 612.
  • thief idem, page 866.