μαστός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μᾰζός (măzós) — Epic, Ionic
• μᾰσθός (măsthós) — Ionic, Koine
• μᾰσδός (măsdós) — Doric

Etymology

Perhaps related to μαδάω (madáō, “to be moist”). If so, then from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“wet, glossy, fat, well-fed”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mas.tós/ → /masˈtos/ → /masˈtos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mas.tós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/

Noun

a breast cup

μᾰστός • (măstós) m (genitive μᾰστοῦ); second declension

1. (anatomy) a breast (organ containing mammary glands)
   1. (especially of women) a human breast
   2. (zootomy, rare) udder
2. (figurative) any round, breast-shaped object:
   1. a round hill
   2. a round piece of wool fastened to the edge of nets
   3. (Pamphylian) a breast-shaped cup

Usage notes

• All usage contradicts the statement of the Grammarians that μαζός (mazós) is the man's breast, μαστός (mastós) the woman's.

Declension

Second declension of ὁ μᾰστός; τοῦ μᾰστοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μᾰστός ho măstós	τὼ μᾰστώ tṑ măstṓ	οἱ μᾰστοί hoi măstoí
Genitive	τοῦ μᾰστοῦ toû măstoû	τοῖν μᾰστοῖν toîn măstoîn	τῶν μᾰστῶν tôn măstôn
Dative	τῷ μᾰστῷ tōî măstōî	τοῖν μᾰστοῖν toîn măstoîn	τοῖς μᾰστοῖς toîs măstoîs
Accusative	τὸν μᾰστόν tòn măstón	τὼ μᾰστώ tṑ măstṓ	τοὺς μᾰστούς toùs măstoús
Vocative	μᾰστέ măsté	μᾰστώ măstṓ	μᾰστοί măstoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀκμόθετον (akmótheton)
• βᾰρῠ́μᾰστος (bărŭ́măstos)
• γυναικόμαστος (gunaikómastos)
• δεκάμαζος (dekámazos)
• μᾰστᾰ́ρῐον (măstắrĭon)
• μᾰστῐ́ον (măstĭ́on)
• μᾰστόδεσμος (măstódesmos)
• μᾰστόδετον (măstódeton)
• μᾰστοειδής (măstoeidḗs)
• μᾰστώδης (măstṓdēs)
• μεγαλόμασθος (megalómasthos)
• μεγαλόμαστος (megalómastos)
• πρόμᾰστος (prómăstos)
• φῐλόμᾰστος (phĭlómăstos)

Descendants

• → English: mastos

References

• “μαστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μαστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μαστός in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “μαστός”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3149 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bosom idem, page 90.
  • breast idem, page 96.
  • hillock idem, page 400.
  • hummock idem, page 410.
  • knoll idem, page 471.
  • nipple idem, page 558.
  • pap idem, page 591.
  • teat idem, page 859.
  • udder idem, page 905.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈstos/
• Hyphenation: μα‧στός

Noun

μαστός • (mastós) m (plural μαστοί)

1. (anatomy) breast (mammary gland)
2. (zoology) udder

Declension

Declension of μαστός

	singular	plural
nominative	μαστός (mastós)	μαστοί (mastoí)
genitive	μαστού (mastoú)	μαστών (mastón)
accusative	μαστό (mastó)	μαστούς (mastoús)
vocative	μαστέ (masté)	μαστοί (mastoí)

Synonyms

• (breast): στήθος m (stíthos), βυζί n (vyzí) (colloquial, vulgar)