ἀσφάραγος

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /as.pʰá.ra.ɡos/ → /asˈɸa.ra.ɣos/ → /asˈfa.ra.ɣos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /as.pʰá.ra.ɡos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /asˈpʰa.ra.ɡos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /asˈɸa.ra.ɣos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /asˈfa.ra.ɣos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /asˈfa.ra.ɣos/

Etymology 1

Furnée connects the word with φάραγξ (pháranx, “gorge, ravine”) and μάραγοι (máragoi, “overhanging places”), suggesting a Pre-Greek origin.

Alternative forms

• σφάραγγος (sphárangos)

Noun

ἀσφάρᾰγος • (aspháragos) m (genitive ἀσφᾰράγου); second declension

1. (anatomy) throat, gullet

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος; τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος ho aspháragos	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ aspharágō	οἱ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι hoi aspháragoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου toû aspharágou	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn aspharágoin	τῶν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γων tôn aspharágōn
Dative	τῷ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γῳ tôi aspharágōi	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn aspharágoin	τοῖς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοις toîs aspharágois
Accusative	τὸν ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγον tòn aspháragon	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ aspharágō	τοὺς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γους toùs aspharágous
Vocative	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγε asphárage	ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω aspharágō	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι aspháragoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Etymology 2

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pregʰ- (“to jerk, to scatter”) (Latin spargo), but Beekes rejects this, citing a Pre-Greek origin due to the presence of the variation "π/φ"

Alternative forms

• ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos)

Noun

ἀσφάρᾰγος • (aspháragos) m (genitive ἀσφᾰράγου); second declension

1. asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

   Synonym: ἀκᾰνθῐ́ᾱς (akanthíās)

2. (botany) shoots of other plants

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος; τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος ho aspháragos	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ aspharágō	οἱ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι hoi aspháragoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου toû aspharágou	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn aspharágoin	τῶν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γων tôn aspharágōn
Dative	τῷ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γῳ tôi aspharágōi	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn aspharágoin	τοῖς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοις toîs aspharágois
Accusative	τὸν ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγον tòn aspháragon	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ aspharágō	τοὺς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γους toùs aspharágous
Vocative	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγε asphárage	ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω aspharágō	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι aspháragoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀσφαραγία (aspharagía)
• ἀσφαραγωνία (aspharagōnía)

 

Descendants

• Latin: asparagus (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “ἀσφάραγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀσφάραγος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀσφάραγος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀσφάραγος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀσφάραγος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀσφάραγος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• 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

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN