μύραινα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σμύραινα (smúraina)

Etymology

Traditionally connected with σμύρις (smúris, “emery powder”) and with words for 'grease, fat', like Proto-Germanic *smerwą (“grease”), which would fit the eel as a fat creature. However, this does not explain the long "ῡ". According to Beekes, names of fish are often Pre-Greek and the suffix -αινᾰ (-aina) is well-known in such words.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /my̌ː.rai̯.na/ → /ˈmy.rɛ.na/ → /ˈmi.re.na/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /my̌ː.rai̯.na/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmy.rɛ.na/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmy.rɛ.na/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmy.re.na/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.re.na/

Noun

μῡ́ραινα • (mū́raina) f (genitive μῡραίνης); first declension

1. moray eel

Inflection

First declension of ἡ μῡ́ραινᾰ; τῆς μῡραίνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μῡ́ραινᾰ hē mū́raina	τὼ μῡραίνᾱ tṑ mūraínā	αἱ μῡ́ραιναι hai mū́rainai
Genitive	τῆς μῡραίνης tês mūraínēs	τοῖν μῡραίναιν toîn mūraínain	τῶν μῡραινῶν tôn mūrainôn
Dative	τῇ μῡραίνῃ têi mūraínēi	τοῖν μῡραίναιν toîn mūraínain	ταῖς μῡραίναις taîs mūraínais
Accusative	τὴν μῡ́ραινᾰν tḕn mū́rainan	τὼ μῡραίνᾱ tṑ mūraínā	τᾱ̀ς μῡραίνᾱς tā̀s mūraínās
Vocative	μῡ́ραινᾰ mū́raina	μῡραίνᾱ mūraínā	μῡ́ραιναι mū́rainai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: murēna, muraena (see there for further descendants)
• → Middle Armenian: զմիւռնեա (zmiwṙnea)

Further reading

• “μύραινα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μύραινα 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