Νηρεύς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Most theories are based on Nereus being a sea god:

• According to Fick (1890), from a Proto-Indo-European *ner- and related to Lithuanian nérti (“to dive”), nėrõvė (“mermaid”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• Related to νηρόν (nērón, “fresh water”), itself a contracted form from νεαρός (nearós, “new, fresh”). Alternatively related to νηρόν (nērón, “low-lying”), which Beekes considers to be of unclear origin.
• Beekes tentatively favors a Pre-Greek origin, in view of the ending suffix -εύς (-eús) as well as the semantic category of mythological names.

It is possible that the name Νηρεύς (Nēreús) is a back-formation from Νηρῇς (Nērêis, “a Nereid”), the name of his daughters, as the latter hold much more significance in Greek mythology.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /nɛː.rěu̯s/ → /niˈreɸs/ → /niˈrefs/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nɛː.rěu̯s/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ne̝ˈrews/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /niˈreɸs/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /niˈrefs/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /niˈrefs/

• Hyphenation: Νη‧ρεύς

Proper noun

Νηρεύς • (Nēreús) m (genitive Νηρέως); third declension

1. Nereus

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ Νηρεύς; τοῦ Νηρέως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Νηρεύς ho Nēreús
Genitive	τοῦ Νηρέως toû Nēréōs
Dative	τῷ Νηρεῖ tôi Nēreî
Accusative	τὸν Νηρέᾱ tòn Nēréā
Vocative	Νηρεῦ Nēreû
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of Νηρεύς; Νηρῆος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	Νηρεύς Nēreús
Genitive	Νηρῆος / Νηρέος Nērêos / Nēréos
Dative	Νηρῆῐ̈ / Νηρέῐ̈ Nērêï / Nēréï
Accusative	Νηρῆᾰ / Νηρέᾰ Nērêa / Nēréa
Vocative	Νηρεῦ Nēreû
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• Νηρῇς (Nērêis), Νηρηΐς (Nērēḯs)

Descendants

• Greek: Νηρεύς (Niréfs), Νηρέας (Niréas)
• Latin: Nēreus

Further reading

• “Νηρεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Νηρεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Νηρεύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3517 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,018
• Νηρεύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette