δῆμος,
Doric dialect δᾶμος (compare infr. IV), ὁ,
district, country, land, Βοιωτοὶ μάλα πίονα δ. ἔχοντες [
Refs 8th c.BC+]
the land of dreams, [
Refs]
2) the
people, inhabitants of such a district, πόληΐ τε παντί τε δήμῳ [
Refs 8th c.BC+]
II) hence (since the common people lived in the country, the chiefs in the city),
the commons, common people, δήμου ἀνήρ, opposed to βασιλεύς, ἔξοχος ἀνήρ, etc, [
NT+8th c.BC+] being
a commoner, [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to οἱ εὐδαίμονες, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to οἱ παχέες, [
Refs]; opposed to οἱ δυνατοί, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; = Latin
plebs, [
Refs 1st c.BC+]
unus de plebe, [
Refs 2nd c.AD+]; in an army,
rank and file, opposed to officers, ὁ δ. τῶν στρατιωτῶν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2)
metaphorically, δ. ἰχθύων [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὀρνέων [
Refs 4th c.AD+]
III) in a political sense,
the sovereign people, the free citizens, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.2)
popular government, democracy, opposed to ὀλιγαρχίη, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to οἱ τύραννοι, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; δήμου κατάλυσις [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; δ. καταστῆσαι, καταπαύειν, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]: in
plural,
democracies, [
Refs 4th c.BC+]
III.3)
the popular assembly, λέγειν ἐν τῷ δ. [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δ, formula in Inscrr, as [
Refs]; of the
assembly of Oxyrhynchus, [
Refs 3rd c.AD+]
IV)
township, commune (=
Doric dialect κώμη
accusative to [
Refs 5th c.BC+], etc:—
Doric dialect δᾶμος, [
Refs]: in indications of origin, Σωφάνης ἐκ δ. Δεκελεῆθεν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
V) name for a prostitute, [
Refs 7th c.BC+]
VI)
faction in the circus, [
Refs 3rd c.AD+]
VII) ={κατανάγκη}, Ps.-[
Refs 1st c.AD+]. (Perh. cognate with Sanskrit
dā´ti 'reap', δαίομαι, δατέομαι.)