ἐφήμερος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἐπ(ί)- (ep(í)-, “on”) +‎ ἡμέρᾱ (hēmérā, “day”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.pʰɛ̌ː.me.ros/ → /eˈɸi.me.ros/ → /eˈfi.me.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.pʰɛ̌ː.me.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /eˈpʰe̝.me.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈɸi.me.ros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈfi.me.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈfi.me.ros/

Adjective

ἐφήμερος • (ephḗmeros) m or f (neuter ἐφήμερον); second declension

1. living only one day; short-lived
2. for a day; daily; once a day
3. (as with φάρμακον (phármakon)) acting or occurring within one day

Declension

Second declension of ἐφήμερος; ἐφήμερον (Attic)

Number		Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		ἐφήμερος ephḗmeros	ἐφήμερον ephḗmeron		ἐφημέρω ephēmérō	ἐφημέρω ephēmérō		ἐφήμεροι ephḗmeroi	ἐφήμερᾰ ephḗmera
Genitive		ἐφημέρου ephēmérou	ἐφημέρου ephēmérou		ἐφημέροιν ephēméroin	ἐφημέροιν ephēméroin		ἐφημέρων ephēmérōn	ἐφημέρων ephēmérōn
Dative		ἐφημέρῳ ephēmérōi	ἐφημέρῳ ephēmérōi		ἐφημέροιν ephēméroin	ἐφημέροιν ephēméroin		ἐφημέροις ephēmérois	ἐφημέροις ephēmérois
Accusative		ἐφήμερον ephḗmeron	ἐφήμερον ephḗmeron		ἐφημέρω ephēmérō	ἐφημέρω ephēmérō		ἐφημέρους ephēmérous	ἐφήμερᾰ ephḗmera
Vocative		ἐφήμερε ephḗmere	ἐφήμερον ephḗmeron		ἐφημέρω ephēmérō	ἐφημέρω ephēmérō		ἐφήμεροι ephḗmeroi	ἐφήμερᾰ ephḗmera
Derived forms		Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
		ἐφημέρως ephēmérōs			ἐφημερώτερος ephēmerṓteros			ἐφημερώτᾰτος ephēmerṓtatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (short-lived): ἐφημέρῐος (ephēmérios)

Derived terms

• ἐφημερευτήρῐον (ephēmereutḗrion)
• ἐφημερευτής (ephēmereutḗs)
• ἐφημερεύω (ephēmereúō)
• ἐφημερέω (ephēmeréō)
• ἐφημερῐ́ᾱ (ephēmeríā)
• ἐφημερῐνός (ephēmerinós)
• ἐφημέρῐος (ephēmérios)
• ἐφημερῐ́ς (ephēmerís)
• ἐφημερόβῐος (ephēmeróbios)
• ἐφήμερον (ephḗmeron)
• ἐφημερούσῐος (ephēmeroúsios)

 

Descendants

• English: ephemeron, ephemera
• New Latin: ephēmerus
  • English: ephemeral
  • French: éphémère

Further reading

• “ἐφήμερος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐφήμερος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἐφήμερος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• G2184 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.
  • day idem, page 197.
  • ephemeral idem, page 279.
  • evanescent idem, page 284.
  • fleet idem, page 327.
  • short-lived idem, page 768.
  • temporary idem, page 860.
  • transient idem, page 889.
  • transitory idem, page 889.