αἰθήρ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From αἴθω (aíthō, “to kindle”), with the ending -ήρ (-ḗr) perhaps from analogy with ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr, “mist; air”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ai̯.tʰɛ̌ːr/ → /ɛˈθir/ → /eˈθir/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ai̯.tʰɛ̌ːr/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ɛˈtʰe̝r/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɛˈθir/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈθir/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈθir/

Noun

αἰθήρ • (aithḗr) m (genitive αἰθέρος); third declension

1. sky
2. aether; ether
3. theoretical medium of great elasticity and extreme thinness of consistency supposed to fill all unoccupied space and transmit light and heat
4. the clear sky

Declension

Third declension of ὁ αἰθήρ; τοῦ αἰθέρος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ αἰθήρ ho aithḗr	τὼ αἰθέρε tṑ aithére	οἱ αἰθέρες hoi aithéres
Genitive	τοῦ αἰθέρος toû aithéros	τοῖν αἰθέροιν toîn aithéroin	τῶν αἰθέρων tôn aithérōn
Dative	τῷ αἰθέρῐ tōî aithérĭ	τοῖν αἰθέροιν toîn aithéroin	τοῖς αἰθέρσῐ / αἰθέρσῐν toîs aithérsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν αἰθέρᾰ tòn aithéră	τὼ αἰθέρε tṑ aithére	τοὺς αἰθέρᾰς toùs aithérăs
Vocative	αἰθήρ aithḗr	αἰθέρε aithére	αἰθέρες aithéres
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• αἰθέριος (aithérios)
• αἰθερίτης (aitherítēs)
• αἰθεριώδης (aitheriṓdēs)
• αἰθερόομαι (aitheróomai)
• αἰθερώδης (aitherṓdēs)
• αἴθρα (aíthra)
• αἴθρη (aíthrē)
• αἰθρίδιον (aithrídion)
• αἴθριον (aíthrion)
• αἴθριος (aíthrios)
• αἶθρος (aîthros)
• ῠ̔παίθρῐος (hŭpaíthrĭos)
• ὕπαιθρος (húpaithros)

Related terms

• ἰθαίνω (ithaínō)
• ἰθαρός (itharós)

Descendants

• Greek: αιθήρ (aithír); αιθέρας (aithéras)
• → Arabic: أَثِير (ʔaṯīr, “air”)
• → Bulgarian: етер (eter)
• → Hebrew: אתר (eter)
• → Latin: aethēr (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: եթեր (etʻer)
  • → Armenian: եթեր (etʻer) (learned)
• → Persian: اثیر (asir)
• → Polish: eter
• → Russian: эфи́р (efír)
  • → Bulgarian: ефир (efir)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: етар

  Latin script: etar

• → Ukrainian: ефі́р (efír), ете́р (etér)

Further reading

• “αἰθήρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αἰθήρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “αἰθήρ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• αἰθήρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• αἰθήρ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• αἰθήρ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• “αἰθήρ”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • air idem, page 21.
  • ether idem, page 284.
  • heaven idem, page 393.
  • sky idem, page 781.
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, pages 21, 284
• αἰθήρ, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011