στοιχεῖον , to/:
I. in a form of sun-dial, the shadow of the gnomon, the length of which in feet indicated the time of day, ὅταν ᾖ δεκάπουν τὸ ς. when the shadow is ten feet long, Ar.Ec.652, v. Sch.; “ὁπηνίκ᾽ ἂν εἴκοσι ποδῶν . . τὸ ς. ᾖ” Eub.119.7, cf. Philem.83.
II. element,
1. a simple sound of speech, as the first component of the syllable, Pl.Cra.424d; τὸ ῥῶ τὸ ς. ib.426d; “γραμμάτων ς. καὶ συλλαβάς” Id.Tht.202e; “ς. ἐστι φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος” Arist.Po.1456b22; “φωνῆς ς. καὶ ἀρχαὶ δοκοῦσιν εἶναι ταῦτ᾽ ἐξ ὧν σύγκεινται αἱ φωναὶ πρώτων” Id.Metaph.998a23, cf.Gal.15.6:—στοιχεῖα therefore, strictly, were different from letters (γράμματα), Diog.Bab.Stoic.3.213, Sch.D.T.p.32, al., but are freq. not clearly distd. from them, as by Pl.Tht.l.c., Cra.426d; “τὰ ς. τῶν γραμμάτων τὰ τέτταρα καὶ εἴκοσι” Aen.Tact.31.21; ς. ε_ letter ε (in a filing-system), BGU959.2 (ii A.D.); ἀκουόμενα ς. letters which are pronounced, A.D.Adv.165.17; γράμματα and ς. are expressly identified by D.T.630.32; the ς. and its name are confused by A.D. Synt.29.1, but distd. by Hdn.Gr. ap. Choerob.in Theod.1.340, Sch.D.T. l.c.:—“κατὰ στοιχεῖον” in the order of the letters, alphabetically, AP11.15 (Ammian.); dub.sens.in Plu.2.422e.
2. in Physics, στοιχεῖα were the components into which matter is ultimately divisible, elements, reduced to four by Empedocles, who called them ῥιζὤματα, the word στοιχεῖα being first used (acc. to Eudem. ap. Simp.in Ph.7.13) by Pl., τὰ πρῶτα οἱονπερεὶ ς, ἐξ ὧν ἡμεῖς τε συγκείμεθα καὶ τἄλλα Tht.201e; τὰ τῶν πάντων ς. Plt.278d; “αὐτὰ τιθέμενοι ς. τοῦ παντός” Ti.48b, cf. Arist.GC314a29, Metaph.998a28, Thphr.Sens.3, al., D.L.3.24; “ς. σωματικά” Arist.Mete.338a22, Thphr.Fr.46; ἄτομα ς. Epicur.Ep.2p.36U.; equivalent to ἀρχαί, Thales ap.Plu.2.875c, Anaximand. ap. D.L.2.1, Anon. ap. Arist.Ph.188b28, Metaph.1059b23, al.; but Arist. also distinguishes ς. from ἀρχή as less comprehensive, ib.1070b23; τὰ ς. ὕλη τῆς οὐσίας ib.1088b27; τρία τὰ ς. Id.Ph.189b16; distd. from ἀρχή on other grounds by Stoic.2.111; ς. used in three senses by Chrysipp., ib.136, cf. Zeno ib.1.24, al.; in Medicine, Gal.6.3, 420, al., 15.7, al.; “Αἰθέρ, κόσμου ς. ἄριστον” Orph.H.5.4; ἀνηλεὲς ς., of the sea, Babr.71.4; τὸ ς., of the sea, Polem.Cyn.44; ἄμφω τὰ ς., i.e. land and sea, ib.11, cf. Hdn.3.1.5, Him.Ecl.2.18.
3. the elements of proof, e.g. in general reasoning the πρῶτοι συλλογισμοί, Arist.Metaph.1014b1; in Geometry, the propositions whose proof is involved in the proof of other propositions, ib.998a26, 1014a36; title of geometrical works by Hippocrates of Chios, Leon, Theudios, and Euclid, Procl. in Euc.pp.66,67,68F.: hence applied to whatever is one, small, and capable of many uses, Arist.Metaph.1014b3; to whatever is most universal, e.g. the unit and the point, ib.6; the line and the circle, Id.Top.158b35; the τόπος (argument applicable to a variety of subjects), ib.120b13, al., Rh.1358a35, al.; “στοιχεῖα τὰ γένη λέγουσί τινες” Id.Metaph.1014b10; τὸ νόμισμα ς. καὶ πέρας τῆς ἀλλαγῆς coin is the unit . . of exchange, Id.Pol.1257b23; in Grammar, ς. τῆς λέξεως parts of speech, D.H.Comp.2; but also, the letters composing a word, A.D.Synt.313.7; letters of the alphabet, Diog. Bab.Stoic.3.213; ς. τοῦ λόγου the elements of speech, viz. words, or the kinds of words, parts of speech, Thphr. ap. Simp. in Cat.10.24, Chrysipp.Stoic.2.45, A.D.Synt.7.1, 313.6.
4. generally, elementary or fundamental principle, ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν ς. X.Mem.2.1.1; “ς. χρηστῆς πολιτείας” Isoc.2.16; τὸ πολλάκις εἰρημένον μέγιστον ς. Arist.Pol.1309b16; “ς. τῆς ὅλης τέχνης” Nicol.Com.1.30, cf. Epicur. Ep.1p.10U., Ep.3p.59U., Phld.Rh.1.127S., Gal.6.306.
5. ἄστρων στοιχεῖα the stars, Man.4.624; “ς. καυσούμενα λυθήσεται” 2 Ep.Pet.3.10, cf. 12; esp. planets, “στοιχείῳ Διός” PLond.1.130.60 (i/ii A.D.); so perh. in Ep.Gal.4.3, Ep.Col.2.8; esp. a sign of the Zodiac, D.L.6.102; of the Great Bear, PMag.Par.1.1303.
6. ς. = ἀριθμός, as etym. of Στοιχαδεύς, Sch.D.T.p.192 H.

Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie.
Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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