Memphis

English

Etymology

From Latin Memphis, from Ancient Greek Μέμφις (Mémphis), from Egyptian mn-nfr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛmfɪs/

Proper noun

Memphis

1. A city of ancient Egypt.
2. The largest city in Tennessee, United States, and the county seat of Shelby County.
3. The name of several towns or cities in the US.
   1. A town in Pickens County, Alabama.
   2. A census-designated place in Manatee County, Florida.
   3. A census-designated place in Clark County, Indiana.
   4. A small city in Macomb County and St. Clair County, Michigan.
   5. A former village in DeSoto County, Mississippi.
   6. A small city, the county seat of Scotland County, Missouri.
   7. A village in Saunders County, Nebraska.
   8. A hamlet in the town of Van Buren, Onondaga County, New York.
   9. An unincorporated community in Clinton County, Ohio.
   10. A city, the county seat of Hall County, Texas.

Derived terms

• Memphian
• Memphibian
• Memphis rap
• Memphrica (offensive)

Related terms

• Memphitic, Memphitical

Translations

city of ancient Egypt

• Arabic: منف (manf), ممفيس (memfis), منفر (manfar)

  Egyptian Arabic: منف, ممفيس

• Armenian: Մեմփիս (Mempʻis)
• Asturian: Menfis
• Bulgarian: Мемфис (Memfis)
• Czech: Mennofer m, Memfis m
• Danish: Memphis
• Egyptian: (mn-nfr), (jnb-ḥḏ)
• Esperanto: Menefro, Memfiso
• French: Memphis (fr)
• German: Memphis (de)
• Greek: Μέμφις (el) f (Mémfis)

  Ancient: Μέμφις (Mémphis)

• Italian: Menfi f
• Japanese: メンフィス、メンネフル、マンフ
• Latin: Memphis f
• Old Church Slavonic: Мемфь (Memfĭ)
• Polish: Memfis (pl) m
• Russian: Ме́мфис (ru) m (Mɛ́mfis)
• Slovak: Mennofer m, Mennefer m, Memfis m
• Spanish: Menfis
• Swedish: Memfis
• Ukrainian: Ме́мфіс m (Mémfis)

city in Tennessee, USA

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 孟菲斯 (zh) (Mèngfēisī), 曼非斯 (Mànfēisī)

• Swedish: Memphis

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μέμφις (Mémphis), from Egyptian mn-nfr.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmem.pʰis/, [ˈmɛmpʰɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmem.fis/, [ˈmɛmfis]

Proper noun

Memphis f sg (genitive Memphidos or Memphis); third declension

1. Memphis (an ancient city in Egypt)

Declension

• Two declensional patterns are attested, but the Greek pattern was used almost exclusively postclassically.

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant, imparisyllabic non-i-stem or non-Greek-type, i-stem, accusative singular in -im or -in; two different stems), with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Memphis
Genitive	Memphidos Memphis
Dative	Memphidī Memphī
Accusative	Memphida Memphim Memphin
Ablative	Memphide Memphe
Vocative	Memphis Memphi1
Locative	Memphidī Memphide Memphī Memphe

¹In poetry.

References

• “Memphis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Memphis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.