βόρβορος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes, probably of onomatopoeic origin. A connection with Armenian կորկ (kork, “dirt”) remains very doubtful. Saycc saw a Hittite loanword in it, from [script needed] (pūrpura, “ball, lump; ball-shaped cakes”), which however does not fit either semantically nor phonologically.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bór.bo.ros/ → /ˈβor.βo.ros/ → /ˈvor.vo.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bór.bo.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbor.bo.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβor.βo.ros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈvor.vo.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈvor.vo.ros/

Noun

βόρβορος • (bórboros) m (genitive βορβόρου); second declension

1. mire, filth
2. clay, moist earth
3. foul abuse

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ βόρβορος; τοῦ βορβόρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βόρβορος ho bórboros	τὼ βορβόρω tṑ borbórō	οἱ βόρβοροι hoi bórboroi
Genitive	τοῦ βορβόρου toû borbórou	τοῖν βορβόροιν toîn borbóroin	τῶν βορβόρων tôn borbórōn
Dative	τῷ βορβόρῳ tôi borbórōi	τοῖν βορβόροιν toîn borbóroin	τοῖς βορβόροις toîs borbórois
Accusative	τὸν βόρβορον tòn bórboron	τὼ βορβόρω tṑ borbórō	τοὺς βορβόρους toùs borbórous
Vocative	βόρβορε bórbore	βορβόρω borbórō	βόρβοροι bórboroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βορβορόω (borboróō)
• βορβορῐ́ζω (borborízō)

 

Further reading

• “βόρβορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βόρβορος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βόρβορος 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