ἔθνος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Proto-Indo-European *swedh-no-, expanded from the reflexive pronoun Proto-Indo-European *swe- (“self”).

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /étʰnos/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /ɛ́tʰnos/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /éθnos/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /éθnos/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /éθnos/

Noun

ἔθνος • (ethnos) (genitive ἔθνεος or ἔθνους); n, third declension;

1. group of people: tribe, family
2. group of animals: flock, herd
3. country, nation
4. (later, in plural), foreign nations, barbarians
5. (Jewish and Christian usage) gentiles, heathen
6. class, caste

Inflection

Third declension of ἔθνος, ἔθνεος (uncontracted)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθνος	τὼ ἔθνεε	τὰ ἔθνεᾰ
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθνεος	τοῖν ἐθνέοιν	τῶν ἐθνέων
Dative	τῷ ἔθνεϊ	τοῖν ἐθνέοιν	τοῖς ἔθνεσσῐ(ν)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθνος	τὼ ἔθνεε	τὰ ἔθνεᾰ
Vocative	ἔθνος	ἔθνεε	ἔθνεᾰ

Third declension of ἔθνος, ἔθνους (contracted)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθνος	τὼ ἔθνει	τὰ ἔθνη
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθνους	τοῖν ἐθνοῖν	τῶν ἐθνῶν
Dative	τῷ ἔθνει	τοῖν ἐθνοῖν	τοῖς ἔθνεσῐ(ν)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθνος	τὼ ἔθνει	τὰ ἔθνη
Vocative	ἔθνος	ἔθνει	ἔθνη

Derived terms

• ἐθνάρχης (ethnarkhēs)

Descendants

• English: ethnic, ethnicity, heathen
• Greek: έθνος (éthnos)
• Russian: этнос (étnos), этнический (etníčeskij)

References

• LSJ
• Bauer lexicon
• Strong’s concordance number: G1484