κέρας

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kérats, probably remodeled from an earlier s-stem *kéras (like κᾰ́ρᾱ (kắrā), κᾰ́ρηνον (kắrēnon), κρᾱνίον (krāníon)), as preserved in e.g. κερασ-φόρος (keras-phóros, “with a horn”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head, top; front of the skull; horn”); see there for more. An older etymology supposes Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-n̥t-.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ké.ras/ → /ˈce.ras/ → /ˈce.ras/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ké.ras/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈke.ras/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈce.ras/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈce.ras/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈce.ras/

Noun

κέρας • (kéras) n (genitive κέρᾱτος or κέρᾰος or κέρως); third declension

1. horn (of an animal)
2. horn as a material, or anything made of horn, such as a bow.
3. (music) horn (musical instrument)
4. arm or branch of a river
5. the side branch (either left or right) of a military array for battle.
6. (metonymic, horn of a powerful animal as a tool) horn used in biblical interpretation as representing a person as focus of a group for power.

Inflection

κέρᾰς (kérăs) was sometimes declined using the stem κέρᾰτ- (kérăt-) and sometimes the stem κέρᾰ- (kéră-). Both are shown below.

Third declension of τὸ κέρᾰς; τοῦ κέρᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κέρᾰς tò kérăs	τὼ κέρᾰτε tṑ kérăte	τᾰ̀ κέρᾰτᾰ tằ kérătă
Genitive	τοῦ κέρᾰτος toû kérătos	τοῖν κερᾰ́τοιν toîn kerắtoin	τῶν κερᾰ́των tôn kerắtōn
Dative	τῷ κέρᾰτῐ tôi kérătĭ	τοῖν κερᾰ́τοιν toîn kerắtoin	τοῖς κέρᾰσῐ / κέρᾰσῐν toîs kérăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ κέρᾰς tò kérăs	τὼ κέρᾰτε tṑ kérăte	τᾰ̀ κέρᾰτᾰ tằ kérătă
Vocative	κέρᾰς kérăs	κέρᾰτε kérăte	κέρᾰτᾰ kérătă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Third declension of τὸ κέρᾰς; τοῦ κέρως (contracted, Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κέρᾰς tò kérăs	τὼ κέρᾱ tṑ kérā	τᾰ̀ κέρᾱ tằ kérā
Genitive	τοῦ κέρως toû kérōs	τοῖν κεροῖν toîn keroîn	τῶν κερῶν tôn kerôn
Dative	τῷ κέραι / κέρᾳ tôi kérai / kérāi	τοῖν κεροῖν toîn keroîn	τοῖς κέρᾰσῐ / κέρᾰσῐν toîs kérăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ κέρᾰς tò kérăs	τὼ κέρᾱ tṑ kérā	τᾰ̀ κέρᾱ tằ kérā
Vocative	κέρᾰς kérăs	κέρᾱ kérā	κέρᾱ kérā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• αἰγόκερᾰς (aigókerăs)
• βούκερᾰς (boúkerăs)
• κεράτινος (kerátinos)
• κεράτιον (kerátion)
• μονόκερως (monókerōs)
• ῥινόκερως (rhinókerōs)

Further reading

• “κέρας”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κέρας”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κέρας”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κέρας in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• κέρας in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “κέρας”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2768 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• κέρας in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • antler idem, page 32.
  • arm idem, page 40.
  • bend idem, page 73.
  • branch idem, page 93.
  • bugle idem, page 103.
  • column idem, page 144.
  • flank idem, page 325.
  • fork idem, page 338.
  • horn idem, page 406.
  • reach idem, page 675.
  • wing idem, page 981.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈce.ɾas/

Noun

κέρας • (kéras) n (plural κέρατα)

1. (anatomy) horn
2. (music) horn (wind instrument)

Declension

Declension of κέρας

	singular	plural
nominative	κέρας (kéras)	κέρατα (kérata)
genitive	κέρατος (kératos)	κεράτων (keráton)
accusative	κέρας (kéras)	κέρατα (kérata)
vocative	κέρας (kéras)	κέρατα (kérata)

Related terms

• κέρατο n (kérato, “horn”)
• κερατίνη f (keratíni, “keratin”)
• κερατάς m (keratás, “cuckold”)
• κέρας της Αμάλθειας n (kéras tis Amáltheias, “cornucopia, horn of plenty”)

Further reading

• κέρας on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el