ἀχράς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀχλᾰ́ς (akhlás)

Etymology

Connected to ἄχερδος (ákherdos, “wild pear”). According to Beekes a Pre-Greek origin is exposed by the alternation ἀ-χερδ- beside ἀ-χραδ-. While the alternation can also be understood in Indo-European terms, the word for “pear” must be suspect of loanword origin due to the Caucasian heimat of the plant, and indeed it appears reflected in, for instance, Ossetian кӕрдо (kærdo, “pear”), and thence even as far as Kipchak كرتما (kärtmä, “pear”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.kʰrás/ → /aˈxras/ → /aˈxras/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.kʰrás/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈkʰras/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/

Noun

ἀχρᾰ́ς • (akhrás) f (genitive ἀχρᾰ́δος); third declension

1. wild pear (Pyrus amygdaliformis)

   Synonyms: ἄπιος (ápios), ἄχερδος (ákherdos), ὄγχνη (ónkhnē)

Declension

Third declension of ἡ ἀχρᾰ́ς; τῆς ἀχρᾰ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀχρᾰ́ς hē akhrás	τὼ ἀχρᾰ́δε tṑ akhráde	αἱ ἀχρᾰ́δες hai akhrádes
Genitive	τῆς ἀχρᾰ́δος tês akhrádos	τοῖν ἀχρᾰ́δοιν toîn akhrádoin	τῶν ἀχρᾰ́δων tôn akhrádōn
Dative	τῇ ἀχρᾰ́δῐ têi akhrádi	τοῖν ἀχρᾰ́δοιν toîn akhrádoin	ταῖς ἀχρᾰ́σῐ / ἀχρᾰ́σῐν taîs akhrási(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἀχρᾰ́δᾰ tḕn akhráda	τὼ ἀχρᾰ́δε tṑ akhráde	τᾱ̀ς ἀχρᾰ́δᾰς tā̀s akhrádas
Vocative	ἀχρᾰ́ς akhrás	ἀχρᾰ́δε akhráde	ἀχρᾰ́δες akhrádes
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 *-ds.

Derived terms

• ἀχράδινος (akhrádinos)

Further reading

• “ἀχράς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἀχράς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀχράς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• 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