φλέψ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of unclear origin. Traditionally linked to a large group of words beginning with "φλ-", like φλέω (phléō, “to overflow, abound”), φλύω (phlúō, “to be full of juice, thrive”), and φλύκταινα (phlúktaina, “blister”). It has been supposed to be an enlargement in *-gʷ- of Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell”), but this appears ad hoc and not particularly convincing. This, in addition to the Greek term's isolated formation, as well as the lexical representation of "vein" being notably unstable across Indo-European languages (with different roots employed in various branches), suggests a Pre-Greek origin as the most plausible explanation.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰléps/ → /ˈɸleps/ → /ˈfleps/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰléps/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰleps/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɸleps/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈfleps/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈfleps/

Noun

φλέψ • (phléps) f (genitive φλεβός); third declension

1. (anatomy) vein
   • c. 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.546

Declension

Third declension of ἡ φλέψ; τῆς φλεβός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ φλέψ hē phléps	τὼ φλέβε tṑ phlébe	αἱ φλέβες hai phlébes
Genitive	τῆς φλεβός tês phlebós	τοῖν φλεβοῖν toîn phleboîn	τῶν φλεβῶν tôn phlebôn
Dative	τῇ φλεβῐ́ tēî phlebĭ́	τοῖν φλεβοῖν toîn phleboîn	ταῖς φλεψῐ́ / φλεψῐ́ν taîs phlepsĭ́(n)
Accusative	τὴν φλέβᾰ tḕn phlébă	τὼ φλέβε tṑ phlébe	τᾱ̀ς φλέβᾰς tā̀s phlébăs
Vocative	φλέψ phléps	φλέβε phlébe	φλέβες phlébes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἐπίφλεβος (epíphlebos)
• φλεβικός (phlebikós)
• φλέβιον (phlébion)
• φλεβοδονώδης (phlebodonṓdēs)
• φλεβονευρώδης (phleboneurṓdēs)
• φλεβονώδης (phlebonṓdēs)
• φλεβοπαλία (phlebopalía)
• φλεβοπεριμέτριος (phleboperimétrios)
• φλεβορραγία (phleborrhagía)
• φλεβόσφυγμος (phlebósphugmos)
• φλεβοτμής (phlebotmḗs)
• φλεβοτομέω (phlebotoméō)
• φλεβοτονέομαι (phlebotonéomai)
• φλεβώδης (phlebṓdēs)

Descendants

• English: phlebo-
• Greek: φλέβα (fléva)

Further reading

• “φλέψ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “φλέψ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “φλέψ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• φλέψ in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• φλέψ 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.
  • pulse idem, page 657.
  • vein idem, page 946.
• φλέψ, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011