βομβάξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βόμβαξ (bómbax)
• βομβαλοβομβάξ (bombalobombáx) (intensive)

Etymology

Onomatopoeic, from the same source as βόμβος (bómbos, “buzzing, humming”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bom.báks/ → /βomˈbaks/ → /vomˈbaks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bom.báks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /bomˈbaks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βomˈbaks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vomˈbaks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vomˈbaks/

Interjection

βομβάξ • (bombáx)

1. buzz!
   • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 45:

     [Μνησίλοχος]: βομβάξ.
     [Εὐριπίδης]: σίγα.

     [Mnēsílokhos]: bombáx.
     [Euripídēs]: síga.

     [Mnesilochus]: Buzz!
     [Euripides]: Shut up!

Further reading

• “βομβάξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βομβάξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βομβάξ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• βομβάξ - ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ (since 2011) Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch) University of Chicago.