κέλης

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κέληξ (kélēx)

Etymology

Perhaps a derivation in -ητ- from κέλομαι (kélomai, “to incite”), or directly from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“fast, swift”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ké.lɛːs/ → /ˈce.lis/ → /ˈce.lis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ké.lɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈke.le̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈce.lis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈce.lis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈce.lis/

Noun

κέλης • (kélēs) m (genitive κέλητος); third declension

1. racehorse, courser, racer
2. fast-sailing yacht with one bank of oars
3. (figuratively) female genitals

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ κέλης; τοῦ κέλητος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κέλης ho kélēs	τὼ κέλητε tṑ kélēte	οἱ κέλητες hoi kélētes
Genitive	τοῦ κέλητος toû kélētos	τοῖν κελήτοιν toîn kelḗtoin	τῶν κελήτων tôn kelḗtōn
Dative	τῷ κέλητῐ tôi kélēti	τοῖν κελήτοιν toîn kelḗtoin	τοῖς κέλησῐ / κέλησῐν toîs kélēsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν κέλητᾰ tòn kélēta	τὼ κέλητε tṑ kélēte	τοὺς κέλητᾰς toùs kélētas
Vocative	κέλης kélēs	κέλητε kélēte	κέλητες kélētes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Derived terms

• κελητῐ́ζω (kelētízō)
• κελήτῐον (kelḗtion)

 

Descendants

• Greek: κέλητας (kélitas)
• → Latin: celēs

Further reading

• “κέλης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κέλης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κέλης”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κέλης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• κέλης 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) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN