Aristotle › Greek Lexicon › κράτιστος

κράτιστος

kratistos

strongest, mightiest

Appears 45 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

Click a work to list every occurrence by Bekker number — each links into the reader.

Dictionary (LSJ)

κράτιστος, η, ον, Ep. κάρτ- (as always in Hom.), isolated Superl. from κρατύς, A. strongest, mightiest, Il. 1.266, etc.; θεῶν κ., i.e. Zeus. Pi. O. 14.13; κ. Ἑλλήνων, i.e. Achilles, S. Ph. 3: in Prose, εἰ τοὺς κ. ἐνικήσαμεν Th. 7.67; Λημνίων τὸ κ. the best of their men, Id. 5.8; τὸ δυνάμεως κ. the strength or flower of . . , X. Cyr. 6.1.28, etc.; of things, καρτίστην . . μάχην fiercest fight, Il. 6.185; δεσμὸς κ. Ti.Locr. 99a. 2. generally, best, most excellent, as Sup. of ἀγαθός, Pi. I. 1.17, S. Ant. 1050, etc.: colloquially, "ἄνδρα κ. εἰπών Thphr. Char. 5.2; οἱ κράτιστοι the aristocracy, X. HG 7.1.42, v. ἀγαθός I; τὰ κ. τῆς χώρας ib.3.4.20. b. as a title or mode of address, κράτιστε Θεόφιλε Ev.Luc. 1.3; esp. = Lat. egregius, ὁ κ. ἡγεμών PFay.p.33 (i A.D.); ὁ κ. ἐπίτροπος BGU 891 (ii A.D.); ἡ κ., of a woman of the equester ordo, IG 14. 1346; also, = Lat. clarissimus, of Senators, ὁ κ. ἀνθὐπατος ib.9(1).61; ὁ κ. συγκλητικός IGRom. 3.581, etc.; ἡ κ. βουλή POxy. 2108.6 (iii A. D.). c. with modal words added, κ. τὴν ψυχήν Th. 2.40; πάντων πάντα κ. best of all in . . , X. An. 1.9.2; ἔν τινι Id. Mem. 3.4.5; εἴς τι Pl. Phlb. 67b; περί τι Id. Plt. 257a; πρός τι X. HG 3.4.16: c. inf., best at doing, Th. 2.81, Pl. Phdr. 267d, X. Mem. 1.4.1, etc.: c. part., τῶν ἡλίκων κ. εἶναι ἀκοντίζων καὶ τοξεύων Id. Cyr. 1.3.15. 3. neut. folld. by inf., φυγέειν κάρτιστον to flee were best, Od. 12.120, cf. E. El. 379, Ar. Eq. 80, etc.: in pl., κράτιστα . . ἑλεῖν E. Med. 384: abs., ὅπερ κ. the main point, Th. 1.143. 4. Adv. usages, ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατίστου in all good faith, Plb. 8.17.4; κατὰ τὸ κ. D.H. 2.22: neut. pl. κράτιστα as Adv., X. HG 3.4.16, Ages. 1.25.—The Comp. in use is κρείσσων (q.v.).

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

Index Aristotelicus. Hermann Bonitz's sense-by-sense analysis of κράτιστος — with the passages he singles out as decisive for each meaning — will appear here. That curated, interpretive selection is the layer LSJ and a raw concordance don't provide. Digitisation in progress; this entry is not yet available.
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