κάκτος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A foreign loan, possibly from Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kák.tos/ → /ˈkak.tos/ → /ˈkak.tos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kák.tos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkak.tos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈkak.tos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈkak.tos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈkak.tos/

Noun

κᾰ́κτος • (káktos) f or m (genitive κᾰ́κτου); second declension

1. (feminine) the cardoon, Cynara cardunculus
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 6.4.10
   • 340 BCE – 285 BCE, Philitas, Collected Works 16
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 10.4
   • Antig., Mir. 8
   • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, Alex. 33
2. (masculine) the artichoke (the fruit of the cardoon); also, the cardoon’s edible leaf-stalks
   • 540 BCE – 450 BCE, Epicharmus, Collected Works 159
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 6.4.10

Declension

Second declension of ὁ, ἡ κᾰ́κτος; τοῦ, τῆς κᾰ́κτου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ κᾰ́κτος ho, hē káktos	τὼ κᾰ́κτω tṑ káktō	οἱ, αἱ κᾰ́κτοι hoi, hai káktoi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς κᾰ́κτου toû, tês káktou	τοῖν κᾰ́κτοιν toîn káktoin	τῶν κᾰ́κτων tôn káktōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ κᾰ́κτῳ tôi, têi káktōi	τοῖν κᾰ́κτοιν toîn káktoin	τοῖς, ταῖς κᾰ́κτοις toîs, taîs káktois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν κᾰ́κτον tòn, tḕn kákton	τὼ κᾰ́κτω tṑ káktō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς κᾰ́κτους toùs, tā̀s káktous
Vocative	κᾰ́κτε kákte	κᾰ́κτω káktō	κᾰ́κτοι káktoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: κάκτος (káktos)
• Latin: cactus (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “κάκτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• κάκτος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin cactus, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos).

Noun

κάκτος • (káktos) m (plural κάκτοι)

1. cactus

Declension

Declension of κάκτος

	singular	plural
nominative	κάκτος •	κάκτοι •
genitive	κάκτου •	κάκτων •
accusative	κάκτο •	κάκτους •
vocative	κάκτε •	κάκτοι •

References

• κάκτος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language