ἀδελφή

See also: ἀδελφῇ and αδελφή

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ᾰ̓δελφειή (ădelpheiḗ) — Epic
• ᾰ̓δελφεή (ădelpheḗ) — Ionic
• ᾰ̓δελφεᾱ́ (ădelpheā́) — Doric

Etymology

Feminine form of ᾰ̓δελφός (ădelphós, “brother”). Displaced the reflex of Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”), still seen in ἔορ (éor, “daughter of a cousin”), a word found in Hesychius' lexicon.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.del.pʰɛ̌ː/ → /a.ðelˈɸi/ → /a.ðelˈfi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.del.pʰɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.delˈpʰe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.ðelˈɸi/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /a.ðelˈfi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.ðelˈfi/

Adjective

ᾰ̓δελφή • (ădelphḗ)

1. feminine nominative/vocative singular of ᾰ̓δελφός (ădelphós)

Noun

ᾰ̓δελφή • (ădelphḗ) f (genitive ᾰ̓δελφῆς, masculine ᾰ̓δελφός); first declension

1. sister
2. some other female relation, such as wife or cousin

Declension

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̓δελφή; τῆς ᾰ̓δελφῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̓δελφή hē ădelphḗ	τὼ ᾰ̓δελφᾱ́ tṑ ădelphā́	αἱ ᾰ̓δελφαί hai ădelphaí
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̓δελφῆς tês ădelphês	τοῖν ᾰ̓δελφαῖν toîn ădelphaîn	τῶν ᾰ̓δελφῶν tôn ădelphôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̓δελφῇ tēî ădelphēî	τοῖν ᾰ̓δελφαῖν toîn ădelphaîn	ταῖς ᾰ̓δελφαῖς taîs ădelphaîs
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̓δελφήν tḕn ădelphḗn	τὼ ᾰ̓δελφᾱ́ tṑ ădelphā́	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓δελφᾱ́ς tā̀s ădelphā́s
Vocative	ᾰ̓δελφή ădelphḗ	ᾰ̓δελφᾱ́ ădelphā́	ᾰ̓δελφαί ădelphaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Coordinate terms

Ancient Greek family terms

γένος (génos, “family”)		Male	Female
parent		πατήρ (patḗr, “father”)	μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”)
grandparent		πάππος (páppos, “grandfather”)	τήθη (tḗthē, “grandmother”)
sibling		ᾰ̓δελφός (ădelphós, “brother”)	ἀδελφή (adelphḗ, “sister”)
cousin		ἀνεψιός (anepsiós, “male cousin”)	ἀνεψιά (anepsiá, “female cousin”)
child		υἱός (huiós, “son”)	θυγάτηρ (thugátēr, “daughter”)
grandchild	son's child	υἱωνός (huiōnós, “grandson”)	υἱωνή (huiōnḗ, “granddaughter”)
	daughter's child	θυγατριδοῦς (thugatridoûs, “grandson”)	θυγατριδῆ (thugatridê, “granddaughter”)
parent's sibling	general	θεῖος (theîos, “uncle”)	θεία (theía, “aunt”)
	paternal	πάτρως (pátrōs, “paternal uncle”)
	maternal	μήτρως (mḗtrōs, “maternal uncle”)
sibling's child		ἀδελφιδοῦς (adelphidoûs, “nephew”)	ἀδελφιδῆ (adelphidê, “niece”)
spouse		γαμέτης (gamétēs, “husband”)	γαμετή (gametḗ, “wife”)
spouse's parent		πενθερός (pentherós, “father-in-law”)	πενθερά (pentherá, “mother-in-law”)
child's spouse		γαμβρός (gambrós, “son-in-law”)	νύμφη (númphē, “daughter-in-law”)
sibling's spouse			γάλως (gálōs, “sister-in-law”)
		δαήρ (daḗr, “brother-in-law”)

Descendants

• Greek: αδελφή (adelfí), αδερφή (aderfí)
• Mariupol Greek: адъэрфи́ (aðerfí)
• → Translingual: Adelpha

Further reading

• “ἀδελφή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀδελφή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀδελφή” in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• “ἀδελφή” in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• G79 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • sister idem, page 779.
• ἀδελφή, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011