Λάμια

See also: λάμια and Λαμία

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes, from λαμυρός (lamurós, “avaricious, voracious, coquettish”), a Pre-Greek word probably related to λαιμός (laimós, “throat, gullet”). Others suggest a late Proto-Indo-European stem *lem- (“ghost, nocturnal spirit”) that was ultimately borrowed from a substrate language such as Etruscan or Anatolian. Compare Latin lemures (“ghosts of the departed”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lá.mi.a/ → /ˈla.mi.a/ → /ˈla.mi.a/

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

Noun

Λᾰ́μῐᾰ • (Lámia) f (genitive Λᾰμῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. (Greek mythology) Lamia, a fabulous monster said to feed on man's flesh
2. a bugbear with which to frighten children
   • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 1177
   • Duris 17 J.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Λᾰ́μῐᾰ; τῆς Λᾰμῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Λᾰ́μῐᾰ hē Lámia
Genitive	τῆς Λᾰμῐ́ᾱς tês Lamíās
Dative	τῇ Λᾰμῐ́ᾳ têi Lamíāi
Accusative	τὴν Λᾰ́μῐᾰν tḕn Lámian
Vocative	Λᾰ́μῐᾰ Lámia
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Latin: lamia

References

• “Λάμιᾰ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Λάμια”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bugbear idem, page 103.
  • goblin idem, page 365.
  • hobgoblin idem, page 402.