σπάνις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of disputed origin:

• Frisk takes the word as a derivative in -νι- of σπάω (spáō, “to draw, pluck”).
• Furnee connects Homeric terms such as ήπανᾳ (ḗpanāi), -νεῖ·ἀπορεῖ (-neî;aporeî), σπανίζει (spanízei), ἀμηχανεῖ (amēkhaneî, “is without resource”), assuming that the initial σ- and α- in the terms are prothetic. This suggests a Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /spá.nis/ → /ˈspa.nis/ → /ˈspa.nis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /spá.nis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.nis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.nis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.nis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.nis/

Noun

σπάνῐς • (spánis) f (genitive σπάνεως); third declension

1. rarity, scarcity

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ σπᾰ́νῐς; τῆς σπᾰ́νεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ σπᾰ́νῐς hē spánis
Genitive	τῆς σπᾰ́νεως tês spáneōs
Dative	τῇ σπᾰ́νει têi spánei
Accusative	τὴν σπᾰ́νῐν tḕn spánin
Vocative	σπᾰ́νῐ spáni
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ σπᾰ́νῐς; τῆς σπᾰ́νῐος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ σπᾰ́νῐς hē spánis
Genitive	τῆς σπᾰ́νῐος tês spánios
Dative	τῇ σπᾰ́νῑ têi spánī
Accusative	τὴν σπᾰ́νῐν tḕn spánin
Vocative	σπᾰ́νῐ spáni
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• σπᾰ́νῐος (spánios)
• σπᾰνός (spanós)

Further reading

• “σπάνις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σπάνις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bareness idem, page 63.
  • dearth idem, page 198.
  • deficiency idem, page 205.
  • infrequency idem, page 439.
  • insufficiency idem, page 447.
  • lack idem, page 473.
  • meagreness idem, page 519.
  • need idem, page 554.
  • niggardliness idem, page 558.
  • paucity idem, page 599.
  • penuriousness idem, page 603.
  • rarity idem, page 672.
  • requirement idem, page 700.
  • scantiness idem, page 737.
  • scarcity idem, page 737.
  • slenderness idem, page 784.
  • sparseness idem, page 798.
  • stint idem, page 818.
  • want idem, page 961.