φῐλόνῑκ-ος, ον,
fond of victory, contentious. 1) in bad sense, οὔτε δύσηρις ἐὼν οὔτ᾽ ὦν φ. ἄγαν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; φ. ἐστι πρὸς ὃ ἂν ὁρμήσῃ [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; coupled with φιλότιμος, [
Refs]; ἐπίπονον καὶ φ. καὶ φιλότιμον. καταστήσας τὸν βίον [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
2) in good sense, of spirited horses, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]: of persons, φ. πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐλλείπεσθαι [
Refs 1st c.AD+]; τὸ φ, ={φιλονικία, ἔσῳζον τὸ φ. ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς} [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
adverb -κως
in eager rivalry, παραθεῖν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to ἀνθρωπίνως, [
Refs 4th c.BC+] occur, without any distinction of meaning, e.g. in [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; φιλόνῑκος is implied by [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; the
compound of φιλο- and νεῖκος would be Φιλονεική; the sense
A)
contentious arises naturally from
fond of victory; in [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; -νῑκ- is also found in late documents, as [
Refs 6th c.AD+]