μειζότερος
meizóteros
G3186
SILEX Entry
Definition
Comparative form meaning 'greater' (in size, degree, status, importance, or rank); denotes something or someone exceeding another in a particular quality or attribute. In various contexts, may refer to physical size, social or honorific hierarchy, or qualitative superiority.
Semantic Range
greater in size, greater in degree, greater in authority or status, greater in importance, more significant, exceeding in a given quality
Root / Etymology
Formed as the continued comparative of μείζων (meizōn), which is itself the comparative of μέγας (megas, 'great, large'). μειζότερος is a further comparative or emphatic comparative form, primarily used in later and Hellenistic/Koine Greek.
Historical & Contextual Notes
μειζότερος is an uncommon intensified comparative, sometimes found in later Greek, including the New Testament, where it expresses the idea of being 'still greater' or 'even greater' than another already compared object (i.e., more than μείζων). In earlier classical Greek, μείζων is the standard comparative of μέγας; μειζότερος is rare before the Koine period and appears to reflect a Hellenistic tendency to reinforce or emphatically extend comparatives and superlatives. In the New Testament the word typically appears in contexts of hierarchical comparison—e.g., status, works, authority. Standard English translations render it as 'greater,' but this does not always reflect the emphatic, escalated comparative nuance identifiable in the Greek, where a sense of 'still greater' or 'yet greater' is possible. No significant theological or religious connotation attaches to the term; its use is purely comparative and descriptive, with contextual application to things, persons, or qualities. See also μείζων for primary comparative uses.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
continued comparative of μείζων; still larger (figuratively):--greater.
Root Family
μειζ- (meizóteros) — greater, larger, more important
Word Forms
0 distinct forms
No word forms found for this Strong's number.
Occurrences in Scripture
0 occurrences
No occurrences found.