δῆμος

See also δήμος, and Δήμος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• δᾶμος (Doric)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *deh₂mos. Cognates include Old Irish dām and Old Welsh dauu.

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /dɛ́͜ɛmos/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /déːmos/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /ðímos/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /ðímos/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /ðímos/

Noun

δῆμος (genitive δήμου) m, second declension; (dēmos)

1. country, land
2. A deme, a subdivision of ancient Attica.
3. People, mainly the common people.
   • circa 8^th century BC, Ὅμηρος (Homer), Ἰλιάς (The Iliad), 3.50:

     πατρί τε σῷ μέγα πῆμα πόληΐ τε παντί τε δήμῳ

     great pain upon your father, your city, and your people

4. Common people, i.e. the democratic faction.

   ἦν γὰρ Πειθίας ἐθελοπρόξενός τε τῶν Ἀθηναίων καὶ τοῦ δήμου προειστήκει (Thucydides, Hist.3.70)

   for Peithias was a volunteer proxenus of the Athenians and the leader of the democratic faction

5. (rare) commoner
   • Ὅμηρος (Homer), Ἰλιάς (The Iliad), 12.213

     δῆμον ἐόντα

     being a commoner

6. Assembly of the people as a political body.
7. democracy

Inflection

Second declension of δῆμος, δήμου

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	δῆμος	δήμω	δῆμοι
Genitive	δήμου	δήμοιν	δήμων
Dative	δήμῳ	δήμοιν	δήμοις
Accusative	δῆμον	δήμω	δήμους
Vocative	δῆμε	δήμω	δῆμοι

Derived terms

• δημιουργός
• δημοκρατία

Descendants

• English: deme
• Greek: δήμος

References

• LSJ
• Bauer lexicon
• Strong’s concordance number: G1218