ζίζυφον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of unknown origin. Maybe of Oriental origin, but Beekes doesn't dismiss a Pre-Greek origin, comparing the word with σέσυφος (sésuphos) and Σίσυφος (Sísuphos).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /zdíz.dy.pʰon/ → /ˈzi.zy.ɸon/ → /ˈzi.zi.fon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zdíz.dy.pʰon/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈzi.zy.pʰon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈzi.zy.ɸon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈzi.zy.fon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈzi.zi.fon/

Noun

ζίζῠφον • (zízuphon) n (genitive ζιζύφου); second declension

1. jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ζίζῠφον; τοῦ ζιζῠ́φου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ζίζῠφον tò zízuphon	τὼ ζιζῠ́φω tṑ zizúphō	τᾰ̀ ζίζῠφᾰ tà zízupha
Genitive	τοῦ ζιζῠ́φου toû zizúphou	τοῖν ζιζῠ́φοιν toîn zizúphoin	τῶν ζιζῠ́φων tôn zizúphōn
Dative	τῷ ζιζῠ́φῳ tôi zizúphōi	τοῖν ζιζῠ́φοιν toîn zizúphoin	τοῖς ζιζῠ́φοις toîs zizúphois
Accusative	τὸ ζίζῠφον tò zízuphon	τὼ ζιζῠ́φω tṑ zizúphō	τᾰ̀ ζίζῠφᾰ tà zízupha
Vocative	ζίζῠφον zízuphon	ζιζῠ́φω zizúphō	ζίζῠφᾰ zízupha
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: ζίζιφο (zízifo), τζίτζιφο (tzítzifo)
• → Albanian: xinxife
• → Arabic: زَيْزَفُون (zayzafūn)
  • → Persian: زیزفون (zizofun)
• → Latin: zīzyphum, zīzyphus (see there for further descendants)
• → Classical Syriac: ܙܽܘܙܦܴܐ (zūzp̄ā)
  • → Arabic: زِفْزِف (zifzif)
    • ⇒ Arabic: زُفَيْزَف (zufayzaf)
      • → Galician: azufaifo
      • → Portuguese: açofeifa, açofaifa
      • → Spanish: azofaifa, azufaifa

Further reading

• “ζίζυφον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ζίζυφον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN