σπεῖρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to twist”) and so cognate with σπάρτον (spárton, “rope, cable”) and σπεῖρον (speîron, “shroud”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /spêː.raː/ → /ˈspi.ra/ → /ˈspi.ra/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /spêː.raː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈspi.ra/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈspi.ra/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈspi.ra/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈspi.ra/

Noun

σπεῖρα • (speîra) f (genitive σπείρᾱς); first declension

1. Anything twisted or wound
   1. (in the plural) The coils or spires of snakes
   2. A rope, a cord
   3. A knot or curl in wood
   4. (architecture) The torus of a column

Declension

First declension of ἡ σπείρᾱ; τῆς σπείρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σπείρᾱ hē speírā	τὼ σπείρᾱ tṑ speírā	αἱ σπεῖραι hai speîrai
Genitive	τῆς σπείρᾱς tês speírās	τοῖν σπείραιν toîn speírain	τῶν σπειρῶν tôn speirôn
Dative	τῇ σπείρᾳ têi speírāi	τοῖν σπείραιν toîn speírain	ταῖς σπείραις taîs speírais
Accusative	τὴν σπείρᾱν tḕn speírān	τὼ σπείρᾱ tṑ speírā	τᾱ̀ς σπείρᾱς tā̀s speírās
Vocative	σπείρᾱ speírā	σπείρᾱ speírā	σπεῖραι speîrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σπειρίον (speiríon)
• σπειρικός (speirikós)
• σπειρίτης (speirítēs)
• σπειρηδόν (speirēdón)
• σπειράομαι (speiráomai)

Descendants

• Greek: σπείρα (speíra)
• Latin: spīra

References

• “σπεῖρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “σπεῖρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• σπεῖρα 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