σφαῖρα

See also: σφαίρα

Ancient Greek

Connections with σπαίρω (spaírō, “to gasp”) or Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (“to kick, rebound, move convulsively”, the original sense would be "something that rebounds") have been suggested, but the aspiration of σπ- to σφ- is unexplained and the semantic development is dubious.^[1]^[2] Nikolayev instead suggests derivation from a Proto-Hellenic *skʷʰə́řřa, from a putative Proto-Indo-European *sgʷʰer- (“to be round”); compare Avestan 𐬰𐬔𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬯𐬥𐬀 (zgər^əsna, “round”) and Hittite [Term?] pl (/⁠šū̆rita⁠/, “skeins of wool”) (a borrowing from Luwian).^[3]

σφαῖρᾰ • (sphaîră) f (genitive σφαίρᾱς); first declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σφαῖρᾰ hē sphaîră	τὼ σφαίρᾱ tṑ sphaírā	αἱ σφαῖραι hai sphaîrai
Genitive	τῆς σφαίρᾱς tês sphaírās	τοῖν σφαίραιν toîn sphaírain	τῶν σφαιρῶν tôn sphairôn
Dative	τῇ σφαίρᾳ tēî sphaírāi	τοῖν σφαίραιν toîn sphaírain	ταῖς σφαίραις taîs sphaírais
Accusative	τὴν σφαῖρᾰν tḕn sphaîrăn	τὼ σφαίρᾱ tṑ sphaírā	τᾱ̀ς σφαίρᾱς tā̀s sphaírās
Vocative	σφαῖρᾰ sphaîră	σφαίρᾱ sphaírā	σφαῖραι sphaîrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “σφαῖρα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1427
^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 906
^ Alexander Nikolaev (2017), “Luvian ^(síg)šūrita ‘balls of yarn’”, in Usque ad Radices: Indo-European studies in honour of Birgit Anette Olsen, Museum usculanum Press, pages 567-574
^ “σφαῖρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
^ σφαῖρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
^ σφαῖρα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
^
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- ball idem, page 60.
- globe idem, page 362.
- sphere idem, page 801.

“σφαῖρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
σφαῖρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
σφαῖρα in Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Max Sengebusch, editor, Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache‎^[2] (in German), 3rd edition, Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn
σφαῖρα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“σφαῖρα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
“σφαῖρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
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
σφαῖρα, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011