εἵλη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἕλη (hélē)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to shine, warm, smoulder, burn”) and cognate with English sweal, German schwelen (“to smoulder”) and Lithuanian svìlti (“to grill”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hěː.lɛː/ → /ˈi.li/ → /ˈi.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hěː.lɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)i.le̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.li/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.li/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.li/

Noun

εἵλη • (heílē) f (genitive εἵλης); first declension

1. the heat or warmth of the sun

Inflection

First declension of ἡ εἵλη; τῆς εἵλης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ εἵλη hē heílē	τὼ εἵλᾱ tṑ heílā	αἱ εἷλαι hai heîlai
Genitive	τῆς εἵλης tês heílēs	τοῖν εἵλαιν toîn heílain	τῶν εἱλῶν tôn heilôn
Dative	τῇ εἵλῃ têi heílēi	τοῖν εἵλαιν toîn heílain	ταῖς εἵλαις taîs heílais
Accusative	τὴν εἵλην tḕn heílēn	τὼ εἵλᾱ tṑ heílā	τᾱ̀ς εἵλᾱς tā̀s heílās
Vocative	εἵλη heílē	εἵλᾱ heílā	εἷλαι heîlai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἄειλος (áeilos)
• εἱλέω (heiléō)
• εἱληθερέω (heilētheréō)
• εἱληθερής (heilētherḗs)
• εὔειλος (eúeilos)
• πρόσειλος (próseilos)

 

Further reading

• “εἵλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• εἵλη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• εἵλη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN