γέννα

See also: Γέννα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”), though the exact morphological and phonological development is unclear.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡén.na/ → /ˈʝen.na/ → /ˈʝe.na/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡén.na/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɡen.na/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈʝen.na/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈʝen.na/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈʝe.na/

Noun

γέννᾰ or γέννᾱ • (génnă or génnā) f (genitive γέννης or γέννᾱς); first declension (Poetic)

1. Ancient Greek
   1. synonym of γένος (génos)
      1. descent, lineage
      2. origin
         • 2nd century CE, w:Secundus the Silent, Sententiae. 15.

           γῆ γέννα πάντων

           gê génna pántōn

           the earth origin of everyone/everything

      3. offspring, generation
         • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 853:

           πέμπτη δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ γέννα

           pémptē d’ ap’ autoû génna

           the fifth generation after him

      4. family (children), race
   2. coming forth (of the Moon)
2. Medieval (Byzantine) Greek: γέννα • (génna) f (genitive γέννας); first declension
   1. childbirth (process of childbearing)
   2. family
   3. “γέννα τῆς σελήνης (génna tês selḗnēs)”: moonrise (literally: the birth of the Moon) (of the Moon, expression)
   4. also see τὰ Γέννα • (tà Génna) n pl (genitive Γέννων); second declension (6th century CE): Christmas

      Synonym: τὰ Χριστούγεννα (tà Khristoúgenna)

Inflection

First declension of ἡ γέννᾰ; τῆς γέννης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ γέννᾰ hē génnă	τὼ γέννᾱ tṑ génnā	αἱ γένναι hai génnai
Genitive	τῆς γέννης tês génnēs	τοῖν γένναιν toîn génnain	τῶν γεννῶν tôn gennôn
Dative	τῇ γέννῃ tēî génnēi	τοῖν γένναιν toîn génnain	ταῖς γένναις taîs génnais
Accusative	τὴν γέννᾰν tḕn génnăn	τὼ γέννᾱ tṑ génnā	τᾱ̀ς γέννᾱς tā̀s génnās
Vocative	γέννᾰ génnă	γέννᾱ génnā	γένναι génnai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ἡ γέννᾱ; τῆς γέννᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ γέννᾱ hē génnā	τὼ γέννᾱ tṑ génnā	αἱ γένναι hai génnai
Genitive	τῆς γέννᾱς tês génnās	τοῖν γένναιν toîn génnain	τῶν γεννῶν tôn gennôn
Dative	τῇ γέννᾳ tēî génnāi	τοῖν γένναιν toîn génnain	ταῖς γένναις taîs génnais
Accusative	τὴν γέννᾱν tḕn génnān	τὼ γέννᾱ tṑ génnā	τᾱ̀ς γέννᾱς tā̀s génnās
Vocative	γέννᾱ génnā	γέννᾱ génnā	γένναι génnai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• γενναῖος (gennaîos)
• γέννᾱς (génnās)
• γεννᾰ́ω (gennắō)
• γεννήεις (gennḗeis)
• γεννητός (gennētós)
• γεννῐκός (gennĭkós)
• γεννῶ (gennô)

Descendants

From Medieval Greek:

• Greek: γέννα (génna)
• → Amharic: ገና (gäna)
• → Tigre: ገና (gäna)

See also

• τοκετός (toketós)

Further reading

• “γέννᾰ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γέννα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “γέννα”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• γέννα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• γέννα - Kriaras, Emmanuel (1969-), Επιτομή του Λεξικού της Μεσαιωνικής Ελληνικής Δημώδους Γραμματείας (Epitomí tou Lexikoú tis Mesaionikís Ellinikís Dimódous Grammateías) [Concise Dictionary of the Kriaras' Dictionary of Medieval Vulgar Greek Literature (1100–1669) Vols. 1–14. Vols 15- under I. Kazazes.] (in Greek), Thessaloniki: Centre for the Greek language Online edition (abbreviations) Printed edition 2022: 22 vols.
• γέννα, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝe.na/
• Hyphenation: γέν‧να

Etymology 1

From Byzantine Greek γέννα (génna) from verb γεννῶ. The Ancient Greek noun γέννα had a different meaning: “ancestry, descendant”.

Noun

γέννα • (génna) f (plural γέννες)

1. birth (process of childbearing)

Usage notes

• The very rare genitive plural “των γεννών”, is either archaic (“τῶν γεννῶν”), or regional demotic, or used for veterinary archives “αρχείο γεννών” (archeío gennón, “archive of births/labours”) while the common “αρχείο γεννήσεων” (archeío genníseon, “archive of births”) has to do with childbirths and registration.

Declension

Declension of γέννα

	singular	plural
nominative	γέννα (génna)	γέννες (génnes)
genitive	γέννας (génnas)	—
accusative	γέννα (génna)	γέννες (génnes)
vocative	γέννα (génna)	γέννες (génnes)

Genitive plural των γεννών (see Usage notes).

Synonyms

• γέννηση f (génnisi)
• τοκετός m (toketós)

Related terms

• γεννώ (gennó, “give birth or beget”)
• Χριστούγεννα (Christoúgenna, “Christmas”)

Etymology 2

Inflectional form of the verb γεννάω (gennáo) / γεννώ (gennó, “to give birth”).

Verb

γέννα • (génna)

1. second-person singular imperfective imperative of γεννάω (gennáo) (also: γένναγε)
2. second-person singular perfective imperative of γεννάω (gennáo) (also: γέννησε)