νόστος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *nóstos, from the o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *nes- (“to return home”) + -τος (-tos). See νέομαι (néomai, “to go or come back”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /nós.tos/ → /ˈnos.tos/ → /ˈnos.tos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nós.tos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈnos.tos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈnos.tos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈnos.tos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈnos.tos/

Noun

νόστος • (nóstos) m (genitive νόστου); second declension

1. the act of reaching a place; journey, arrival
2. the act of returning or going back
3. (Homeric) returning home, homecoming, a safe journey home

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ νόστος; τοῦ νόστου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νόστος ho nóstos	τὼ νόστω tṑ nóstō	οἱ νόστοι hoi nóstoi
Genitive	τοῦ νόστου toû nóstou	τοῖν νόστοιν toîn nóstoin	τῶν νόστων tôn nóstōn
Dative	τῷ νόστῳ tôi nóstōi	τοῖν νόστοιν toîn nóstoin	τοῖς νόστοις toîs nóstois
Accusative	τὸν νόστον tòn nóston	τὼ νόστω tṑ nóstō	τοὺς νόστους toùs nóstous
Vocative	νόστε nóste	νόστω nóstō	νόστοι nóstoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of νόστος; νόστου (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νόστος nóstos	νόστω nóstō	νόστοι nóstoi
Genitive	νόστου / νοστοῖο / νόστοιο / νοστόο / νόστοο nóstou / nostoîo / nóstoio / nostóo / nóstoo	νόστοιῐν nóstoiin	νόστων nóstōn
Dative	νόστῳ nóstōi	νόστοιῐν nóstoiin	νόστοισῐ / νόστοισῐν / νόστοις nóstoisi(n) / nóstois
Accusative	νόστον nóston	νόστω nóstō	νόστους nóstous
Vocative	νόστε nóste	νόστω nóstō	νόστοι nóstoi
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• ἀνόστιμος (anóstimos)
• ἄνοστος (ánostos)
• ἀπονοστέω (aponostéō)
• ἀπονόστησις (aponóstēsis)
• δύσνοστος (dúsnostos)
• νοστέω (nostéō)
• νόστιμος (nóstimos)
• νόσφι (nósphi)
• παλίννοστος (palínnostos)
• παλινοστέω (palinostéō)
• παλινοστέω (palinostéō)
• παλινόστιμος (palinóstimos)
• περινοστέω (perinostéō)
• συμπερινοστέω (sumperinostéō)
• ὑπονοστέω (huponostéō)
• ὑπονόστησις (huponóstēsis)

 

Further reading

• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 766
• “νόστος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νόστος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νόστος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νόστος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• νόστος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “νόστος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • home-coming idem, page 404.
  • return idem, page 708.