Quick Definition
πύργος, ου, ὁ n.m. a tower, fortified structure
Strong's Definition
apparently a primary word ("burgh"); a tower or castle
KJV Usage: tower
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, m. | -ου
7.23 · Constructions · Buildings
tower, watchtower a tall structure with a lookout at the top; made of stone; for guarding a vineyard or a settlement In the NT πύργος may designate any type of tower, whether employed for military purposes or used by watchmen protecting a harvest.
Some scholars have suggested that in LUK 14:28 the reference to πύργος is some kind of farm building, but this suggestion has been rejected by others.
In a number of languages a word for ‘tower’ is simply ‘a high building’ (though of course not a skyscraper). In other instances a tower may be more appropriately described as ‘a high platform’ or ‘a high lookout place.’
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
πύργος, -ov, ὁ, (akin to Germ. Burg, anciently Purg; [yet ef. Curtius § 413]), as in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, a tower; a fortified structure rising to a considerable height, to repel a hostile attack or to enable a watchman to see in every direction. The πύργος ἐν τῷ Swap [(4: v-)] seems to designate a tower in the walls of Jerusalem near the fountain of Siloam, Lk. xiii. 4; the tower occupied by the keepers of a vineyard is spoken of in Mt. xxi. 33; Mk. xii. 1, (after Is. v. 2); a tower-shaped building as a safe and convenient dwelling, Lk. xiv. 28.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
πύργος pyrgos 4x
a tower, Mt. 21:33; Mk. 12:1; Lk. 13:4; genr. a castle, palace, Lk. 14:28*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
πύργος, -ου, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for מִגְדָּל;]
a tower: Lk 13:4; of a watch-tower in a vineyard (Is 5:2): Mt 21:33, Mk 12:1, and prob., Lk 14:28.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
πύργος, “a tower”: cf. BGU IV. 11949 (B.c. 27) τοῦ ἱεροῦ πύργου, P Ryl II. 138° (a.p. 34) ἐσύλησέν μου ἐν τῶι πύργωι ἱκανὰ apyade(t)a, “he robbed me of a number of tools in the tower,” and P Giss 1. 6718 (time of Trajan/ Hadrian), where reference is made to a sleeping-chamber (κοιτῶν) ἐπὶ τοῦ πύργου. Tlipyos is used ofa ‘* watch-tower” in a vineyard, as in Mt 218 a/., in BGU II. 650%(a.D. 60-1) ἐν ᾧ ἐλαίων Kal πύργος Kal ἕτερα, and in P Oxy 11. 243% (A.D. 79) we hear of a πύργος δίστεγος, ‘‘a two-storied tower,” cf. the οἰκία διπυργία in P Hamb I. 1435 (a.p. 209-210). A Lycian inscr. (7.115 xxxiv. (1914) p. 5 No. 107) shows πύργος apparently in the sense of a ‘‘tomb’’— Ἑπάγαθος β ὁ τὸν πύργον ἐκ θεμελίων κατασκευάσας. The editors refer to the similar use of πυργίσκος in C/G III. 4207 al. This latter word is rendered ‘‘casket” by GH in P Oxy VI. 92174 (iii/a.p.) : cf. Artem. p.681. It should be noted that in Hermes liv. p. 423 ff. F. Preisigke advocates the meaning ‘‘ farm-building’’ for πύργος, and is supported by E. Meyer in 26. lv. p. 100ff., where the suitability of this meaning for such NT passages as Mk 121, Lk 1428, isshown. See also P Strass II. τοῦ (iii/B.c.).
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
πύργος (purgos) — tower. πύργος, ὁ, tower, especially such as were attached to the walls of a city, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: in plural, city walls or ramparts with their towers, [Refs 8th c.BC+] __b movable tower for storming towns, [Refs 5th c.BC+] __c tower on the back of war-elephants, [Refs 2nd c.AD+] __d Ζανὸς π., [Refs 4th c.BC+] name for the central fire of the universe, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
2. metaphorically, tower of defence, τοῖος.. σφιν π. ἀπώλεο, of Ajax, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; θανάτων δ᾽ ἐμᾷ χώρᾳ π. ἀνέστα a tower of defence from deaths, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
3. the part of a house (probably a separate building) in which the women lived and worked, αἱ ἄλλαι θεράπαιναι ἐν τῷ π. ἦσαν, οὗπερ διαιτῶνται [Refs 4th c.BC+] in her tower, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; of the workman's hut of Timon the misanthrope (which also became his tomb,[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; outbuildings, especially if used in industry, [LXX+3rd c.BC+]; π. ἐν ᾧ βαφεῖον καὶ ἕτερα χρηστήρια [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II. part of an army drawn up in close order, column, [Refs 8th c.BC+]
II.2. at Teos, a division of the people, [Refs]
III. dice-box, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; cf. Latin pyrgus.