λειχήν

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• λιχήν (likhḗn) — Koine, in inscriptions

Etymology

From λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”), derived with the meaning “the one who licks”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /leː.kʰɛ̌ːn/ → /liˈçin/ → /liˈçin/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /leː.kʰɛ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /liˈkʰe̝n/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /liˈçin/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /liˈçin/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /liˈçin/

Noun

λειχήν • (leikhḗn) m (genitive λειχῆνος); third declension

1. Liverwort
   • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, Materia medica 4.53
2. Lichen-like disease affecting the skin of animals; sycosis
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers 281
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Aphorisms 3.20
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On Sweat 14
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Leviticus 21.20
   • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 14.75
   • 400 CE – 600 CE, Aëtius, Sixteen Books on Medicine 8.16
3. Blight or canker of the ground
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 785
4. Callosity on the foreleg of horses
   • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, Materia medica 2.43
   • 400 CE – 500 CE, Caelius Aurelianus, Chronic Diseases 1.138

Declension

Third declension of ὁ λειχήν; τοῦ λειχῆνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λειχήν ho leikhḗn	τὼ λειχῆνε tṑ leikhêne	οἱ λειχῆνες hoi leikhênes
Genitive	τοῦ λειχῆνος toû leikhênos	τοῖν λειχήνοιν toîn leikhḗnoin	τῶν λειχήνων tôn leikhḗnōn
Dative	τῷ λειχῆνῐ tôi leikhêni	τοῖν λειχήνοιν toîn leikhḗnoin	τοῖς λειχῆσῐ / λειχῆσῐν toîs leikhêsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν λειχῆνᾰ tòn leikhêna	τὼ λειχῆνε tṑ leikhêne	τοὺς λειχῆνᾰς toùs leikhênas
Vocative	λειχήν leikhḗn	λειχῆνε leikhêne	λειχῆνες leikhênes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἱππολειχήν (hippoleikhḗn)

Descendants

• Greek: λειχήνα (leichína)
• → Latin: līchēn

References

• “λειχήν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λείχω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 846