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πλάι
beside /ˈpla.i/
adverbB1#1918 most common
Also: next to, alongside, side by side (πλάι πλάι)
Example sentences
Κάθισε πλάι μου.
Sit beside me.
Το σπίτι μας είναι πλάι στη θάλασσα.
Our house is beside the sea.
Περπατούσαμε πλάι πλάι στην παραλία.
We were walking side by side on the beach.
Έζησε όλη του τη ζωή πλάι στον πατέρα του, μαθαίνοντας την τέχνη του.
He lived his whole life beside his father, learning his craft.
Πλάι στις δυσκολίες, βρήκε πάντα κάποιον να τον στηρίξει.
Alongside the hardships, he always found someone to support him.
Στέκεται πλάι στους αδύναμους, ασκώντας κριτική σε όσους σιωπούν μπροστά στην αδικία.
He stands beside the weak, criticizing those who stay silent in the face of injustice.
Word family
πλάγιοςslanting, oblique, indirect
πλαγιάhillside, slope
πλαγιάζωto lie down, recline
πλαγίωςobliquely, in an indirect way
Etymology
Πλάι comes from the ancient Greek adjective πλάγιος, meaning slanting or oblique. Its neuter form, πλάγιον, wore down in everyday speech to πλάι, losing the -γ- and the final -ον. Over time the sense shifted from sideways to the more concrete beside or next to used today. The tie to πλάγιος still shows in related words like πλαγιά, hillside, and πλαγίως, obliquely.
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