ἔμβρυον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἔμβρῠος (émbruos, “growing”), from ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ βρύω (brúō, “swell, grow”), of unclear origin. Compare Sanskrit भ्रूण (bhrūṇá, “embryo, fetus; young one”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ém.bry.on/ → /ˈem.bry.on/ → /ˈem.bri.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ém.bry.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bri.on/

Noun

ἔμβρῠον • (émbruon) n (genitive ἐμβρῠ́ου); second declension

1. a young one
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.245
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.309
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.342
   • 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 3.15.2
2. embryo, fetus
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 945, (Compare Hippocrates, Aphorisms 1255, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 6.22.18)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ἔμβρῠον; τοῦ ἐμβρῠ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔμβρῠον tò émbruon	τὼ ἐμβρῠ́ω tṑ embrúō	τᾰ̀ ἔμβρῠᾰ tà émbrua
Genitive	τοῦ ἐμβρῠ́ου toû embrúou	τοῖν ἐμβρῠ́οιν toîn embrúoin	τῶν ἐμβρῠ́ων tôn embrúōn
Dative	τῷ ἐμβρῠ́ῳ tôi embrúōi	τοῖν ἐμβρῠ́οιν toîn embrúoin	τοῖς ἐμβρῠ́οις toîs embrúois
Accusative	τὸ ἔμβρῠον tò émbruon	τὼ ἐμβρῠ́ω tṑ embrúō	τᾰ̀ ἔμβρῠᾰ tà émbrua
Vocative	ἔμβρῠον émbruon	ἐμβρῠ́ω embrúō	ἔμβρῠᾰ émbrua
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• English: embryo-
• Greek: έμβρυο (émvryo)
• Latin: embryo, embryon

References

• “ἔμβρυον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἔμβρυον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἔμβρυον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἔμβρυον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἔμβρυον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἔμβρυον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)