νῆστις

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νήστης (nḗstēs) — Byzantine

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *n̥-h₁d-tis (literally “having no eating”). Cognate with Old Armenian նօթի (nōtʻi, “hungry”). By surface analysis, νη- (nē-) +‎ ἔδω (édō) +‎ -τις (-tis).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /nɛ̂ːs.tis/ → /ˈnis.tis/ → /ˈnis.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nɛ̂ːs.tis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne̝s.tis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈnis.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈnis.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈnis.tis/

Adjective

νῆστις • (nêstis) m or f; third declension

1. fasting (not eating)
2. hungry
3. causing hunger

Declension

Third declension of νῆστῐς; νήστῐος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νῆστῐς nêstis	νήστῐε nḗstie	νήστεις nḗsteis
Genitive	νήστῐος / νήστηος nḗstios / nḗstēos	νηστῐ́οιῐν nēstíoiin	νηστῐ́ων nēstíōn
Dative	νήστῐῐ / νήστῑ / νήστηῐ̈ / νήστει nḗstii / nḗstī / nḗstēï / nḗstei	νηστῐ́οιῐν nēstíoiin	νηστῐ́εσσῐ / νηστῐ́εσσῐν / νήστεσῐ / νήστεσῐν / νήστῐσῐ / νήστῐσῐν nēstíessi(n) / nḗstesi(n) / nḗstisi(n)
Accusative	νῆστῐν nêstin	νήστῐε nḗstie	νήστῐᾰς / νήστηᾰς / νήστῑς nḗstias / nḗstēas / nḗstīs
Vocative	νῆστῐ nêsti	νήστῐε nḗstie	νήστεις nḗsteis
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ νῆστῐς; τοῦ, τῆς νήστῐδος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ νῆστῐς ho, hē nêstis	τὼ νήστῐδε tṑ nḗstide	οἱ, αἱ νήστῐδες hoi, hai nḗstides
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς νήστῐδος toû, tês nḗstidos	τοῖν νηστῐ́δοιν toîn nēstídoin	τῶν νηστῐ́δων tôn nēstídōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ νήστῐδῐ tôi, têi nḗstidi	τοῖν νηστῐ́δοιν toîn nēstídoin	τοῖς, ταῖς νήστῐσῐ / νήστῐσῐν toîs, taîs nḗstisi(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν νήστῐδᾰ tòn, tḕn nḗstida	τὼ νήστῐδε tṑ nḗstide	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς νήστῐδᾰς toùs, tā̀s nḗstidas
Vocative	νῆστῐς nêstis	νήστῐδε nḗstide	νήστῐδες nḗstides
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Quotations

• The Gospel of Mark 8:3:

  καὶ ἐὰν ἀπολύσω αὐτοὺς νήστεις εἰς οἶκον αὐτῶν, ἐκλυθήσονται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ· τινὲς γὰρ αὐτῶν μακρόθεν ἥκασι.

  kaì eàn apolúsō autoùs nḗsteis eis oîkon autôn, ekluthḗsontai en têi hodôi; tinès gàr autôn makróthen hḗkasi.

  • Translation by KJV

    And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.

Derived terms

• νηστείᾱ (nēsteíā)
• νηστεύω (nēsteúō)
• νηστικός (nēstikós)

Descendants

• →⇒ English: nestitherapy

Noun

νῆστις • (nêstis) f (genitive νήστεως); third declension

1. (anatomy) jejunum (middle part of small intestine)

Declension

Third declension of ἡ νῆστῐς; τῆς νήστεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ νῆστῐς hē nêstis	τὼ νήστει tṑ nḗstei	αἱ νήστεις hai nḗsteis
Genitive	τῆς νήστεως tês nḗsteōs	τοῖν νηστέοιν toîn nēstéoin	τῶν νήστεων tôn nḗsteōn
Dative	τῇ νήστει têi nḗstei	τοῖν νηστέοιν toîn nēstéoin	ταῖς νήστεσῐ / νήστεσῐν taîs nḗstesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν νῆστῐν tḕn nêstin	τὼ νήστει tṑ nḗstei	τᾱ̀ς νήστεις tā̀s nḗsteis
Vocative	νῆστῐ nêsti	νήστει nḗstei	νήστεις nḗsteis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: νήστις (nístis)
• → Latin: nēstis

Further reading

• “νῆστις”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νῆστις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• νῆστις in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• νῆστις in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• “νῆστις”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011
• “νῆστις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Sophocles, Evangelinos Apostolides (1900) “νήστης”, in Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods (from B. C. 146 to A. D. 1100), New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 783
• G3523 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible