ἀμφίς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ᾰ̓μφῐ́ (ămphĭ́)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts?

Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi

Ancient Greek ἀμφίς

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”), possibly from *h₂énts, from *h₂ent- (“face, forehead; front”) + *-s.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /am.pʰís/ → /amˈɸis/ → /amˈfis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /am.pʰís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /amˈpʰis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /amˈɸis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /amˈfis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /amˈfis/

Adverb

ᾰ̓μφῐ́ς • (ămphĭ́s)

1. on both sides
2. around
3. apart, asunder
4. separately
5. between

Preposition

ᾰ̓μφῐ́ς • (ămphĭ́s) (governs the genitive)

1. around
2. apart from, far from

Usage notes

While ἀμφίς is an alternative form of ἀμφί, in practice the former generally functions as an adverb, and the latter as a preposition. Both are largely replaced by περί in later Greek.

Further reading

• “ἀμφίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀμφίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀμφίς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀμφίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀμφίς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀμφίς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• “ἀμφίς”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter