κεφαλή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kʰepʰəlā́, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-l̥ (“head”) +‎ *-éh₂ (“nominal suffix”). Compare κεβλή (keblḗ). False cognate of Sanskrit क॒पाल॑ (kapā́la).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ke.pʰa.lɛ̌ː/ → /ce.ɸaˈli/ → /ce.faˈli/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ke.pʰa.lɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ke.pʰaˈle̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ce.ɸaˈli/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/

Noun

κεφᾰλή • (kephălḗ) f (genitive κεφᾰλῆς); first declension

1. head

   Synonym: κάρᾱ (kárā)

2. a person's life (often in the sense of being in danger, similar to the English idiom "head is on the line").
3. the topmost part
4. the most important part
5. (Medieval) a provincial governor

Declension

First declension of ἡ κεφᾰλή; τῆς κεφᾰλῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κεφᾰλή hē kephălḗ	τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephălā́	αἱ κεφᾰλαί hai kephălaí
Genitive	τῆς κεφᾰλῆς tês kephălês	τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephălaîn	τῶν κεφᾰλῶν tôn kephălôn
Dative	τῇ κεφᾰλῇ tēî kephălēî	τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephălaîn	ταῖς κεφᾰλαῖς taîs kephălaîs
Accusative	τὴν κεφᾰλήν tḕn kephălḗn	τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephălā́	τᾱ̀ς κεφᾰλᾱ́ς tā̀s kephălā́s
Vocative	κεφᾰλή kephălḗ	κεφᾰλᾱ́ kephălā́	κεφᾰλαί kephălaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• κεφᾰλαίᾱ (kephălaíā)
• κεφᾰ́λαιον (kephắlaion)
• κεφᾰ́λαιος (kephắlaios)
• κεφᾰλαιόω (kephălaióō)
• κεφᾰλαιῶ (kephălaiô)
• κεφᾰλῐ́ζω (kephălĭ́zō)
  • ᾰ̓ποκεφᾰλῐ́ζω (ăpokephălĭ́zō)
• κεφᾰλῖνος (kephălînos)
• κεφᾰ́λῐον (kephắlĭon)
• κεφᾰλῑ́της (kephălī́tēs)
• κεφᾰλῐώτης (kephălĭṓtēs)
• κεφᾰλόρρῐζον (kephălórrhĭzon)
• κέφᾰλος (képhălos)
  • ᾰ̓κέφᾰλος (ăképhălos)
  • ᾰ̓μφῐκέφᾰλος (ămphĭképhălos)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲕⲉⲫⲁⲗⲏ (kephalē)
• → English: cephalo-, -cephalous
• → French: céphalo-, -céphale
• → Greek: κεφαλή (kefalí) (learned)
• → Italian: cefalo-, -cefalo
• → Portuguese: cefalo-, -céfalo
• → Spanish: cefalo-, -céfalo
• → Translingual: cephalo-, -cephalus

Further reading

• “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κεφαλή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “κεφαλή” 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
• κεφαλή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Strong, James (1979), “G2776”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• κεφαλή 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.
  • head idem, page 389.
• κεφαλή, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ). Doublet of κεφάλι (kefáli), inherited from a diminutive form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/
• Hyphenation: κε‧φα‧λή

Noun

κεφαλή • (kefalí) f (plural κεφαλές)

1. (formal) synonym of κεφάλι (kefáli)

Declension

Declension of κεφαλή

	singular	plural
nominative	κεφαλή (kefalí)	κεφαλές (kefalés)
genitive	κεφαλής (kefalís)	κεφαλών (kefalón)
accusative	κεφαλή (kefalí)	κεφαλές (kefalés)
vocative	κεφαλή (kefalí)	κεφαλές (kefalés)

Further reading

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