αἴλουρος

See also: αίλουρος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

αἰέλουρος (aiélouros)
λείουρος (leíouros)

Etymology

Possibly referring originally to wild cats (as opposed to domestic cats); longstanding tradition holds the word to derive from a compound of αἰόλος (aiólos, “fast moving, nimble”) +‎ οὐρά (ourá, “tail”), though the -ε- (-e-) in the earlier-attested form αἰέλουρος (aiélouros) raises phonetic issues. While this derivation has the feel of folk etymology, which Beekes notes is a possibility, it may nonetheless be the case.^[1] Has also been compared to Latin viverra (“ferret”), feles (“cat”), and Lithuanian vaiveris (“polecat”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ǎi̯.luː.ros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lu.ros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lu.ros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.lu.ros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.lu.ros/

Noun

αἴλουρος • (aílouros) m or f (genitive αἰλούρου); second declension

cat; domestic cat, tom (male), queen (female)
weasel

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ / ἡ αἴλουρος; τοῦ / τῆς αἰλούρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ / ἡ αἴλουρος ho / hē aílouros	τὼ αἰλούρω tṑ ailoúrō	οἱ / αἱ αἴλουροι hoi / hai aílouroi
Genitive	τοῦ / τῆς αἰλούρου toû / tês ailoúrou	τοῖν αἰλούροιν toîn ailoúroin	τῶν αἰλούρων tôn ailoúrōn
Dative	τῷ / τῇ αἰλούρῳ tōî / tēî ailoúrōi	τοῖν αἰλούροιν toîn ailoúroin	τοῖς / ταῖς αἰλούροις toîs / taîs ailoúrois
Accusative	τὸν / τὴν αἴλουρον tòn / tḕn aílouron	τὼ αἰλούρω tṑ ailoúrō	τοὺς / τᾱ̀ς αἰλούρους toùs / tā̀s ailoúrous
Vocative	αἴλουρε aíloure	αἰλούρω ailoúrō	αἴλουροι aílouroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

κάττα (kátta)

Descendants

→ English: ailuro-, ailouro-, ailur- (learned)
→ Greek: αίλουρος (aílouros) (learned)
→ Latin: aelūrus
- → English: aeluro-
→ Translingual: Ailurus

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “αἰέλουρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 35

“αἴλουρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“αἴλουρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
αἴλουρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
αἴλουρος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- cat idem, page 118.
αἴλουρος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “αἰέλουρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 35

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