οἶκος

See also: οίκος, and ϝοῖκος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

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From ϝοῖκος (woîkos), from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ-. Cognates include Latin vīcus, whence English wick (“village”); Sanskrit विश् (viś) and वेश (veśa); and Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ôi̯.kos/ → /ˈy.kos/ → /ˈi.kos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ôi̯.kos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈy.kos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈy.kos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈy.kos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.kos/

Noun

οἶκος • (oîkos) m (genitive οἴκου); second declension

1. house or dwelling place
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.471:

     γέρων δ’ ἰθὺς κίεν οἴκου

     gérōn d’ ithùs kíen oíkou

     but the old man went straight toward the house

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 23.7:

     ἦλθ’ Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ οἶκον ἱκάνεται

     êlth’ Oduseùs kaì oîkon hikánetai

     Odysseus is here, and has come home

   1. room, chamber
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.356:

        ἀλλ’ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ’ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε

        all’ eis oîkon ioûsa tà s’ autês érga kómize

        But go to thy chamber, and busy thyself with thine own tasks

   2. meeting house, hall; monument
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 8.143
   • 408 BCE, Euripides, The Phoenician Women 1373
   • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 600
   • 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 21:13
   • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 1.51
   1. birdcage
      • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 13.82
   2. (astrology) domicile of a planet
      • 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 12.7
      • 120 CE – 175 CE, Vettius Valens, Anthology 7.25
      • 300 CE – 500 CE, Book of Sothis 2.141
      • 1115 – 1195, Eustathius of Thessalonica, Collected Works 162.2
2. estate, inheritance
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 2.64:

     οὐδ’ ἔτι καλῶς οἶκος ἐμὸς διόλωλε

     oud’ éti kalôs oîkos emòs diólōle

     and past all that is seemly has my estate been destroyed

3. reigning house or family
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.31.4:

     σὺ ἐς οἶκον τὸν βασιλέος ἐξηγητὴς γίνεαι πρηγμάτων ἀγαθῶν

     sù es oîkon tòn basiléos exēgētḕs gíneai prēgmátōn agathôn

     This plan which you set forth is profitable for the king's house

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ οἶκος; τοῦ οἴκου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ οἶκος ho oîkos	τὼ οἴκω tṑ oíkō	οἱ οἶκοι hoi oîkoi
Genitive	τοῦ οἴκου toû oíkou	τοῖν οἴκοιν toîn oíkoin	τῶν οἴκων tôn oíkōn
Dative	τῷ οἴκῳ tôi oíkōi	τοῖν οἴκοιν toîn oíkoin	τοῖς οἴκοις toîs oíkois
Accusative	τὸν οἶκον tòn oîkon	τὼ οἴκω tṑ oíkō	τοὺς οἴκους toùs oíkous
Vocative	οἶκε oîke	οἴκω oíkō	οἶκοι oîkoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• δόμος (dómos)

Derived terms

• Μενοικεύς (Menoikeús)
• οἰκοβᾰσῐλικόν (oikobasilikón)
• οἰκόβῐος (oikóbios)
• οἰκογενής (oikogenḗs)
• οἰκοδέγμων (oikodégmōn)
• οἰκοδέκτωρ (oikodéktōr)
• οἰκοδεσότης (oikodesótēs)
• οἰκοδεσπόζω (oikodespózō)
• οἰκοδέσποινᾰ (oikodéspoina)
• οἰκοδῐ́αιτος (oikodíaitos)
• οἰκοδομέω (oikodoméō)
• οἰκοδοχεύς (oikodokheús)
• οἰκόθετος (oikóthetos)
• οἰκόθρεπτος (oikóthreptos)
• οἰκοκερδής (oikokerdḗs)
• οἰκοκρᾰτέομαι (oikokratéomai)
• οἰκομᾰχῐ́ᾱ (oikomakhíā)
• οἰκονομέω (oikonoméō)
• οἰκοποιός (oikopoiós)
• οἰκόσῑτος (oikósītos)
• οἰκοσκευή (oikoskeuḗ)
• οἰκοσκοπικόν (oikoskopikón)
• οἰκοσόος (oikosóos)
• οἰκοτρᾰφής (oikotraphḗs)
• οἴκοτριψ (oíkotrips)
• οἰκότροφος (oikótrophos)
• οἰκοτῠ́ραννος (oikotúrannos)
• οἰκουργός (oikourgós)
• οἰκουρός (oikourós)
• οἰκόφθορος (oikóphthoros)
• οἰκοφόρος (oikophóros)
• οἰκοφῠ́λαξ (oikophúlax)
• οἰκῶνᾰξ (oikônax)
• οἰκωφελής (oikōphelḗs)

 

Related terms

• οἴκᾰδε (oíkade)
• οἰκᾰ́ρῐον (oikárion)
• οἴκει (oíkei)
• οἰκεῖος (oikeîos)
• οἰκέτης (oikétēs)
• οἰκεύς (oikeús)
• οἰκέω (oikéō)
• οἰκῐ́ᾱ (oikíā)
• οἰκῐ́δῐος (oikídios)
• οἰκῐ́ζω (oikízō)
• οἰκῐ́ον (oikíon)
• οἴκισῐς (oíkisis)
• οἰκῐ́σκος (oikískos)
• οἴκοθεν (oíkothen)
• οἴκοι (oíkoi)
• οἶκόνδε (oîkónde)
• οἴκοσε (oíkose)

 

Descendants

• Greek: οίκος (oíkos)

Further reading

• “οἶκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “οἶκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “οἶκος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• οἶκος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• οἶκος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “οἶκος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3624 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• οἶκος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • abode idem, page 2.
  • apartment idem, page 33.
  • cabinet idem, page 108.
  • chamber idem, page 123.
  • domicile idem, page 247.
  • dwelling idem, page 257.
  • establishment idem, page 283.
  • estate idem, page 283.
  • family idem, page 305.
  • govern idem, page 367.
  • habitation idem, page 380.
  • home idem, page 403.
  • house idem, page 408.
  • household idem, page 408.
  • residence idem, page 701.
  • room idem, page 721.
  • saloon idem, page 732.
• BDAG
• 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