ῥάχις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes of Pre-Greek origin or related to Lithuanian ražis (“stubble”). Compare ῥαχός (rhakhós, “thorn hedge”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /r̥á.kʰis/ → /ˈra.çis/ → /ˈra.çis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /r̥á.kʰis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈra.kʰis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈra.çis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈra.çis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈra.çis/

Noun

ῥάχῐς • (rhákhis) f (genitive ῥάχῐος or ῥάχεως); third declension

1. chine, lower part of the back
2. (anatomy) spine or backbone
3. anything ridged like a backbone:
   1. ridge of a hill or mountain
   2. bridge of the nose
   3. (botany) midrib of a leaf
   4. sharp projection on the middle of the shoulder blade
   5. outer edge of the arm of the polypus

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ῥᾰ́χῐς; τῆς ῥάχῐος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ῥᾰ́χῐς hē rhákhis	τὼ ῥᾰ́χει tṑ rhákhei	αἱ ῥᾰ́χεις hai rhákheis
Genitive	τῆς ῥάχῐος / ῥάχεως tês rhákhios / rhákheōs	τοῖν ῥᾰχέοιν toîn rhakhéoin	τῶν ῥᾰ́χεων tôn rhákheōn
Dative	τῇ ῥάχει / ῥάχῑ têi rhákhei / rhákhī	τοῖν ῥᾰχέοιν toîn rhakhéoin	ταῖς ῥᾰ́χεσῐ / ῥᾰ́χεσῐν taîs rhákhesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ῥᾰ́χῐν tḕn rhákhin	τὼ ῥᾰ́χει tṑ rhákhei	τᾱ̀ς ῥᾰ́χεις tā̀s rhákheis
Vocative	ῥᾰ́χῐ rhákhi	ῥᾰ́χει rhákhei	ῥᾰ́χεις rhákheis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ῥαχιαῖος (rhakhiaîos)
• ῥαχίζω (rhakhízō)
• ῥαχιστής (rhakhistḗs)
• ῥαχιστός (rhakhistós)
• ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ράχη (ráchi)
• → English: rachis
• → Italian: rachide

Further reading

• “ῥάχις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ῥάχις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ῥάχις”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ῥάχις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ῥάχις 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