lekythos

American  

[lek-uh-thos] / ˈlɛk əˌθɒs /

noun

Greek and Roman Antiquity.

lekythoi plural

1. an oil jar having an ellipsoidal body, narrow neck, flanged mouth, curved handle extending from below the lip to the shoulder, and a narrow base terminating in a foot: used chiefly for ointments.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lekythoi
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lekythos

First recorded in 1850–55, lekythos is from the Greek word lḗkythos

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lekythos lekythoi

The painting on a tall lekythos, or oil jug, from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens shows two men transforming into pigs under the spell of the sorceress Circe.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2010

Greek lekythos to a 1962 painting by Richard Lindner, an exquisite gilt bronze Standing Buddha to a Berlinghieri Madonna and Child.

From Time Magazine Archive

Its priceless collection of 1,450 Greek pots includes all the known shapes of Attic vases across three centuries, except for one, an elusive type of lekythos.

From Time Magazine Archive

For other shapes, such as the hydria, and lekythos, the old method was for a time preferred.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

Fig. 29a.—Illustration on a small lekythos of an Athenian girl at work on a tapestry loom, together with a full size tracing of the tapestry loom.

From Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms by Roth, H. Ling (Henry Ling)

Painted vases did not then altogether cease to be made, as the Panathenaic prize vases and the funeral lekythoi testify, but at the same time a rapid decadence set in.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

Those of the "white" room are painted in the style of the Attic lekythoi, or oil-jugs.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Lanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo

This is proved, not to mention written evidence, by a number of small painted statuettes of burnt clay, as also by several pictures on lekythoi from Attic graves.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by Haines, T. L. (Thomas Louis)

In the 5th century this practice was revived at Athens, chiefly in the class of lekythoi or oil-flasks devoted exclusively to sepulchral uses.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

On others shrines or tombs are depicted—sometimes containing effigies of the deceased, at which the relatives make offerings—as on the Athenian lekythoi.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various