τέλσον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷels- (“to carve, draw”), which corresponds to Hittite 𒄢𒀸𒍣 (gulšzi, “to carve, engrave, inscribe”), Sanskrit कर्स् (kars, “to pull, drag, plow”) and Avestan karš (“to pull, drag, plow”); the retention of -λσ- is regular if the accent was on the preceding syllable. Forbes does not accept this phonological root and therefore derives the word from the root of τέλος (télos, “accomplishment, fulfillment”), which Beekes finds unsatisfactory and unnecessary, particularly if the root is to be reconstructed with a final laryngeal, *kʷelh₁-, though this is debated.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tél.son/ → /ˈtel.son/ → /ˈtel.son/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tél.son/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.son/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.son/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.son/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.son/

Noun

τέλσον • (télson) n (genitive τέλσου); second declension

1. headland, the land where the plough turned
2. end, boundary, limit

   Synonym: τέρμα (térma)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ τέλσον; τοῦ τέλσου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ τέλσον tò télson	τὼ τέλσω tṑ télsō	τᾰ̀ τέλσᾰ tà télsa
Genitive	τοῦ τέλσου toû télsou	τοῖν τέλσοιν toîn télsoin	τῶν τέλσων tôn télsōn
Dative	τῷ τέλσῳ tôi télsōi	τοῖν τέλσοιν toîn télsoin	τοῖς τέλσοις toîs télsois
Accusative	τὸ τέλσον tò télson	τὼ τέλσω tṑ télsō	τᾰ̀ τέλσᾰ tà télsa
Vocative	τέλσον télson	τέλσω télsō	τέλσᾰ télsa
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → English: telson

Further reading

• “τέλσον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τέλσον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “τέλσον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• τέλσον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• τέλσον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τέλσον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1464