κώνειον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κονή (konḗ)

Etymology

From κόνις (kónis, “dust”) +‎ -ειον (-eion). This reference to dust is often used figuratively in contexts involving deadly exertion, such as fights to the death. The suffix, which forms nouns indicating a place or tool, suggests that poison hemlock is the agent or setting of dire struggle, leading those who consume it to metaphorically bite the dust. This is distinct from the variant suffixes -αιον (-aion) and -ιον (-ion) and should not be confused with -εῖον (-eîon).

Historically, the plant was ground into a powder and used to carry out death sentences, notably through the 'hemlock cup' or 'poisoned cup,' as detailed in German Wikipedia about its preparation and use. Poison hemlock's association with ἀκόνιτον (akóniton) arises from their frequent confusion outside their native ranges, where both plants are infamous for their lethal properties.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̌ː.neː.on/ → /ˈko.ni.on/ → /ˈko.ni.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kɔ̌ː.neː.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ni.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ni.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ni.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ni.on/

Noun

κώνειον • (kṓneion) n (genitive κωνείου); second declension

1. poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ κώνειον; τοῦ κωνείου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κώνειον tò kṓneion	τὼ κωνείω tṑ kōneíō	τᾰ̀ κώνειᾰ tà kṓneia
Genitive	τοῦ κωνείου toû kōneíou	τοῖν κωνείοιν toîn kōneíoin	τῶν κωνείων tôn kōneíōn
Dative	τῷ κωνείῳ tôi kōneíōi	τοῖν κωνείοιν toîn kōneíoin	τοῖς κωνείοις toîs kōneíois
Accusative	τὸ κώνειον tò kṓneion	τὼ κωνείω tṑ kōneíō	τᾰ̀ κώνειᾰ tà kṓneia
Vocative	κώνειον kṓneion	κωνείω kōneíō	κώνειᾰ kṓneia
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• κωνειάζομαι (kōneiázomai)

Descendants

• → Classical Syriac: ܩܘܢܝܘܢ‏ (qōnyon)
• → Latin: cōnium
• → Old Georgian: კონიონი (ḳonioni)

Further reading

• “κώνειον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• κώνειον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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, pages 814–815, follows Furnée’s suggestions apodictically
• Furnée, Edzard Johan (1972) Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen (Janua linguarum. Series practica; 150) (in German), The Hague and Paris: Mouton, page 121, also connects ἀκόνιτον (akóniton), but dismisses κόνις (kónis, “dust”) connection as unlikely in favour of Pre-Greek connections with κῶνος (kônos, “cone”) (due to its narrow leaves with pointed teeth?) and κῶνα (kôna, “resin”)