κύτος

See also: κήτος, and κῆτος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. According to Beekes, derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“cover, skin”) (via a form *(s)kHu-t-); related to σκῦτος (skûtos, “hide, leather”), Latin cutis (“skin”), and English hide, but the presumed laryngeal metathesis is problematic. Alternatively from *kew- ~ *ḱew- (“hollow”), but this is also reconstructed as *ḱewh₁-. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) In view of the formal problems and the word's semantic category, a substrate origin is possible.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ký.tos/ → /ˈcy.tos/ → /ˈci.tos/

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

Noun

κῠ́τος • (kútos) n (genitive κῠ́τους); third declension

1. a hollow
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 495
   • 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Fragments 185
   • 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 1224
   • 458 BCE, Euripides, Electra 473
   • 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Cyclops 399
   • 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 1202
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Com. 189
   • Xenarch. 1.10
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 16.3.4
2. any vessel; e.g. a jar, an urn, a vase, etc.
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 322
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 816
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 1142
   • 413 BCE, Euripides, Ion 37
   • 408 BCE – 334 BCE, Antiphanes Comicus, Collected Works 52.2
3. (used of any hollow container) the occiput, the chest, a plant’s root, the uterus, an ox’s abomasum, the body in general, the trunk thereof, metaphorically the polis, etc.
   • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 45a
   • 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 56b.26
   • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 69e
   • Achae. 4.4
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Generation of Animals 742b.14
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Generation of Animals 741b.35
   • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Of the Uses of the Different Parts of the Human Body 14.14
   • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.9
   • Phlp., in AP 0.417.14
   • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 44a
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 12
   • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 74a
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 491a.29
   • 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 686b.14
   • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 1.35
   • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 13.262
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 964e
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 5.59.8
   • 120 CE – 175 CE, Vettius Valens, Anthology 172.32

Declension

Third declension of τὸ κῠ́τος; τοῦ κῠ́τους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κῠ́τος tò kútos	τὼ κῠ́τει tṑ kútei	τᾰ̀ κῠ́τη tà kútē
Genitive	τοῦ κῠ́τους toû kútous	τοῖν κῠτοῖν toîn kutoîn	τῶν κῠτῶν tôn kutôn
Dative	τῷ κῠ́τει tôi kútei	τοῖν κῠτοῖν toîn kutoîn	τοῖς κῠ́τεσῐ / κῠ́τεσῐν toîs kútesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ κῠ́τος tò kútos	τὼ κῠ́τει tṑ kútei	τᾰ̀ κῠ́τη tà kútē
Vocative	κῠ́τος kútos	κῠ́τει kútei	κῠ́τη kútē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• κοιλοσώματον κῠ́τος (koilosṓmaton kútos)
• κῠ́τος ἀστέριον (kútos astérion, “the starry vault of heaven”)
• πλεκτὸν κῠ́τος (plektòn kútos, “basket”)
• κυτίον (kutíon, diminutive)

Descendants

• → Greek: κύτος (kýtos)
• ⇒ Latin: monocytus (Taxonomic Latin)

Further reading

• “κύτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κύτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κύτος 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.
  • ark idem, page 40.
  • belly idem, page 72.
  • body idem, page 87.
  • bowl idem, page 92.
  • cinerary urn idem, page 132.
  • cradle idem, page 181.
  • frame idem, page 342.
  • hollow idem, page 403.
  • husk idem, page 412.
  • jar idem, page 461.
  • pitcher idem, page 615.
  • shell idem, page 764.
  • skeleton idem, page 780.
  • trunk idem, page 898.
  • urn idem, page 940.
  • vessel idem, page 949.

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κύτος (kútos, “hollow vessel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈci.tos/
• Hyphenation: κύ‧τος
• Homophone: κήτος (kítos)

Noun

κύτος • (kýtos) n (plural κύτη)

1. vessel (vase, jug, ewer, urn)
2. hold (of ship or aeroplane)

Declension

Declension of κύτος

	singular	plural
nominative	κύτος •	κύτη •
genitive	κύτους •	κυτών •
accusative	κύτος •	κύτη •
vocative	κύτος •	κύτη •

Related terms

• κήτος n (kítos, “whale or dolphin”)
• κύτταρο n (kýttaro, “cell”)