λίβανος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Borrowed from a Semitic language, from a word cognate to Hebrew לְבוֹנָה‎ (ləḇōnā, “frankincense”) and Arabic لُبَان‎ (lubān, “frankincense”), from Proto-West Semitic *laban- (“white”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lí.ba.nos/ → /ˈli.βa.nos/ → /ˈli.va.nos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lí.ba.nos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈli.ba.nos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.βa.nos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.va.nos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈli.va.nos/

Noun

λίβανος • (líbanos) m or f (genitive λίβανου); second declension

1. frankincense
2. (by extension) frankincense tree

Declension

Second declension of ὁ, ἡ λίβανος; τοῦ, τῆς λιβάνου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ λίβανος ho, hē líbanos	τὼ λιβάνω tṑ libánō	οἱ, αἱ λίβανοι hoi, hai líbanoi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς λιβάνου toû, tês libánou	τοῖν λιβάνοιν toîn libánoin	τῶν λιβάνων tôn libánōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ λιβάνῳ tôi, têi libánōi	τοῖν λιβάνοιν toîn libánoin	τοῖς, ταῖς λιβάνοις toîs, taîs libánois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν λίβανον tòn, tḕn líbanon	τὼ λιβάνω tṑ libánō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς λιβάνους toùs, tā̀s libánous
Vocative	λίβανε líbane	λιβάνω libánō	λίβανοι líbanoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• λιβανωτός (libanōtós)

Derived terms

• λῐβᾰ́νῐνος (libáninos)
• χᾰμαιλῐ́βᾰνος (khamailíbanos)

 

Further reading

• “λίβανος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “λίβανος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 860