Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κάλος ‎(kálos) (Aeolic)
• καλϝός ‎(kalwós) (Boeotian)

Adjective

καλός • ‎(kalós) m ‎(feminine καλή, neuter καλόν); first/second declension

1. beautiful, lovely
2. good, quality, useful
3. good, right, moral, virtuous, noble

Usage notes

This word always has a long (heavy) first syllable in the meter of Homer. This was originally a consequence of the digamma — καλϝός ‎(kalwós) — which resulted in a syllable ending in a consonant: /kal.wos/. But, once the digamma was lost, the heavy syllable was reanalyzed as being the consequence of a long vowel in the first syllable: κᾱλός ‎(kālós).

• 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.96–97

  ὣς εἰποῦσ' ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο κᾱλὰ [= καλϝά] πέδῑλα,
  ἀμβρόσια χρῡ́σεια,

  So saying, she tied beautiful immortal golden sandals under her feet,

Inflection

Related terms

• κάλλος ‎(kállos)

Descendants

• Greek: καλός ‎(kalós, “good”)

References

• καλός, ή, όν in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• καλός in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• καλός in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• «καλός» 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
• «καλός» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• καλός in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• “G2570”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• «καλός» in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th-12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • admirable idem, page 12.
  • artistic idem, page 42.
  • auspicious idem, page 53.
  • beautiful idem, page 68.
  • buxom idem, page 107.
  • capital idem, page 111.
  • comely idem, page 145.
  • creditable idem, page 183.
  • elegant idem, page 265.
  • estimable idem, page 283.
  • excellent idem, page 288.
  • exquisite idem, page 296.
  • fair idem, page 302.
  • favourable idem, page 311.
  • fine idem, page 321.
  • fortunate idem, page 340.
  • good idem, page 366.
  • goodly idem, page 367.
  • handsome idem, page 383.
  • happy idem, page 384.
  • high-principled idem, page 399.
  • honourable idem, page 405.
  • hopeful idem, page 405.
  • lovely idem, page 502.
  • lucky idem, page 504.
  • noble idem, page 559.
  • ornamental idem, page 580.
  • picturesque idem, page 611.
  • plausible idem, page 618.
  • pomantic idem, page 625.
  • principled idem, page 641.
  • promising idem, page 653.
  • propitious idem, page 653.
  • reputable idem, page 699.
  • righteous idem, page 715.
  • skilful idem, page 780.
  • specious idem, page 799.
  • spruce idem, page 806.
  • virtuous idem, page 954.
  • well-favoured idem, page 974.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek καλός.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈlɔs/, [kɐˈlo̞s̠]
• Hyphenation: κα‧λός
• Homophone: καλώς ‎(kalós)

Adjective

καλός • ‎(kalós) m ‎(feminine καλή, neuter καλό)

1. good
2. nice, likeable

Declension

Antonyms

• κακός ‎(kakós)

Noun

καλός • ‎(kalós) m ‎(plural καλοί)

1. the good man

   Οι καλοί θα πάνε στον Παράδεισο.‎ ― Oi kaloí tha páne ston Parádeiso. ― The good will go to Heaven.

2. goodie, goody
3. sweetheart

Declension