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 • (asphárăgos) 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 asphắrăgos	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ asphărắgō	οἱ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι hoi asphắrăgoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου toû asphărắgou	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn asphărắgoin	τῶν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γων tôn asphărắgōn
Dative	τῷ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γῳ tōî asphărắgōi	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn asphărắgoin	τοῖς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοις toîs asphărắgois
Accusative	τὸν ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγον tòn asphắrăgon	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ asphărắgō	τοὺς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γους toùs asphărắgous
Vocative	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγε asphắrăge	ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω asphărắgō	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι asphắrăgoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Etymology 2

Being the name of a cultivated plant, yet still revealing its general meaning as “shoots” of plants, a borrowing from Old Persian *spargah as a descendant from widely attested Proto-Iranian *spr̥Hgah (“sprout”) can be maintained.

Beekes could, of course, declare the term of Pre-Greek origin, like its homonym, due to the presence of the variation “π/φ”—which is paralleled in Iranian in this environment—, rejecting an Indo-Europeanist connection to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pregʰ- (“to jerk, to scatter”) (whence σφαραγέομαι (spharagéomai, “to burst with a noise, teem”), disputed, see also Latin spargere (“to scatter”)).

Alternative forms

• ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos)

Noun

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

1. asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

   Synonym: ἀκᾰνθῐ́ᾱς (akănthĭ́ās)

2. (botany) shoots of other plants

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος; τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγος ho asphắrăgos	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ asphărắgō	οἱ ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι hoi asphắrăgoi
Genitive	τοῦ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γου toû asphărắgou	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn asphărắgoin	τῶν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γων tôn asphărắgōn
Dative	τῷ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γῳ tōî asphărắgōi	τοῖν ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοιν toîn asphărắgoin	τοῖς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γοις toîs asphărắgois
Accusative	τὸν ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγον tòn asphắrăgon	τὼ ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω tṑ asphărắgō	τοὺς ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γους toùs asphărắgous
Vocative	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγε asphắrăge	ἀσφᾰρᾰ́γω asphărắgō	ἀσφᾰ́ρᾰγοι asphắrăgoi
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

• Greek: σπαράγγι (sparángi)
  • → Romanian: sparanghel
• → Arabic: أَسْفَرَاج (ʔasfarāj), أَسْفَارَاج (ʔasfārāj), أَسْفَارَنْج (ʔasfāranj), أَسْفَرَاغ (ʔasfarāḡ) (see there for further 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 (2006–2026)
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Ἀσφάραγος [Aspháragos]”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN