κερκίς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unclear; possibly either from Pre-Greek or a diminutive form of κέρκος (kérkos, “tail”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ker.kís/ → /cerˈcis/ → /cerˈcis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ker.kís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kerˈkis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/

Noun

κερκῐ́ς • (kerkís) f (genitive κερκῐ́δος); third declension

1. weaver's shuttle
2. any taper rod, of wood or ivory
3. measuring rod, gnomon
4. rod for stirring liquids
5. iron dowel
6. (architecture) wedge shaped division of the seats in the theatre
7. (anatomy) tibia
8. aspen (Populus tremula)
9. Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum)

   Synonym: σημύδα (sēmúda)

10. white bryony

Declension

Third declension of ἡ κερκῐ́ς; τῆς κερκῐ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κερκῐ́ς hē kerkís	τὼ κερκῐ́δε tṑ kerkíde	αἱ κερκῐ́δες hai kerkídes
Genitive	τῆς κερκῐ́δος tês kerkídos	τοῖν κερκῐ́δοιν toîn kerkídoin	τῶν κερκῐ́δων tôn kerkídōn
Dative	τῇ κερκῐ́δῐ têi kerkídi	τοῖν κερκῐ́δοιν toîn kerkídoin	ταῖς κερκῐ́σῐ / κερκῐ́σῐν taîs kerkísi(n)
Accusative	τὴν κερκῐ́δᾰ tḕn kerkída	τὼ κερκῐ́δε tṑ kerkíde	τᾱ̀ς κερκῐ́δᾰς tā̀s kerkídas
Vocative	κερκῐ́ς kerkís	κερκῐ́δε kerkíde	κερκῐ́δες kerkídes
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 *-ds.

Derived terms

• κερκίδιον (kerkídion)
• κερκιδιαῖον (kerkidiaîon)
• κερκίζω (kerkízō)
• κέρκισις (kérkisis)
• κέρκιστρα (kérkistra)
• παρακερκίς (parakerkís)

Descendants

• Cercis

Further reading

• “κερκίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κερκίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κερκίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • shuttle idem, page 772.
• 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