pleurā́
pleurā́ πλευρᾱ́ Rippe, Flanke, Pleuel; Wrtdtng: Strebe (wenn Rippe), antike geometrie die Seitenzahl als die Länge der Seite oder Seitenlinie eines Polygon.
Of uncertain origin. The traditional connections with πλάξ (pláx, “flat object, plate”) (< *plk-) and παλάμη (palámē, “palm”)(< *plh₂-em-eh₂-), via an unattested *πλῆ-ϝαρ (*plê-war), suggest a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). The semantics seem reasonable; however, the morphological formation is unclear.
An alternative theory, deriving the word from a Proto-Indo-European *pnew-reh₂, from *pnew- (“to breathe”), would leave the lambdacism (ν (n) > λ (l)) unexplained (although compare πλεύμων (pleúmōn, “lung”)), in addition to being semantically farfetched (the "lung membrane" meaning appears to be a much later innovation in the English borrowing that was never present in Greek), particularly when compared to the connection with *pleh₂-. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
- IPA(key): /pleu̯.rǎː/ → /pleˈβra/ → /pleˈvra/
πλευρᾱ́ • (pleurā́) f (genitive πλευρᾶς); first declension
- (anatomy, usually in the plural) A rib.
- Synonym: πλευρόν (pleurón)
- (usually in the plural) A side of a man or animal.
- A side of things and places.
- (geometry) A line that forms the side of a triangle or other two-dimensional figure.
- A side of a rectangle; (mathematics) one factor of any product.
- A side of a square of a cube; (mathematics) a root of a square of a cubic number.
- A generator of a cone or cylinder.