ἀψίνθιον

See also: αψίνθιον

Ancient Greek

ἀψίνθιον

Alternative forms

• ἄψινθος (ápsinthos), ἀψινθία (apsinthía), ἀψινθή (apsinthḗ), ἀψίνθιν (apsínthin), ἀσπίνθιον (aspínthion)

Etymology

The cluster -ινθ- (-inth-) suggests a source, as in τέρμινθος (términthos, “terebinth”), ἐρέβινθος (erébinthos, “chickpea”), μίνθη (mínthē, “mint”), ὑάκινθος (huákinthos, “hyacinth”), πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”), μήρινθος (mḗrinthos, “cord, line”), κήρινθος (kḗrinthos, “bee bread”), λαβύρινθος (labúrinthos, “labyrinth”). Also, the variant ἀσπίνθιον (aspínthion) with /sp/ instead of /ps/ may point to borrowing from Pre-Greek.

Related to the source of Old Armenian աւշինդր (awšindr, “wormwood”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ap.sín.tʰi.on/ → /apˈsin.θi.on/ → /apˈsin.θi.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ap.sín.tʰi.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /apˈsin.tʰi.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /apˈsin.θi.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /apˈsin.θi.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /apˈsin.θi.on/

Noun

ἀψίνθιον • (apsínthion) n (genitive ἀψινθίου); second declension

1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.5.1:

     Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τόπῳ ἦν μὲν ἡ γῆ πεδίον ἅπαν ὁμαλὲς ὥσπερ θάλαττα, ἀψινθίου δὲ πλῆρες·

     En toútōi dè tôi tópōi ên mèn hē gê pedíon hápan homalès hṓsper thálatta, apsinthíou dè plêres;

     In this region the ground was all a plain, flat like the sea, and full of wormwood.

2. vermouth, wine spiced by wormwood

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ἀψίνθιον; τοῦ ἀψινθίου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἀψίνθιον tò apsínthion	τὼ ἀψινθίω tṑ apsinthíō	τᾰ̀ ἀψίνθιᾰ tà apsínthia
Genitive	τοῦ ἀψινθίου toû apsinthíou	τοῖν ἀψινθίοιν toîn apsinthíoin	τῶν ἀψινθίων tôn apsinthíōn
Dative	τῷ ἀψινθίῳ tôi apsinthíōi	τοῖν ἀψινθίοιν toîn apsinthíoin	τοῖς ἀψινθίοις toîs apsinthíois
Accusative	τὸ ἀψίνθιον tò apsínthion	τὼ ἀψινθίω tṑ apsinthíō	τᾰ̀ ἀψίνθιᾰ tà apsínthia
Vocative	ἀψίνθιον apsínthion	ἀψινθίω apsinthíō	ἀψίνθιᾰ apsínthia
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀψινθίατον (apsinthíaton)
• ἀψίνθινος (apsínthinos)
• ἀψινθίτης (apsinthítēs)

 

Descendants

• Greek: αψίνθιον (apsínthion) (Katharevousa), αψινθιά (apsinthiá), αψιθιά (apsithiá)
• → Arabic: أَفْسِنْتِين (ʔafsintīn), إِفْسَنْتِين (ʔifsantīn)
  • → Persian: افسنتین
    • → Gujarati: અફસંતીન (aphasantīn)
    • → Hindi: अफ़संतीन (afsantīn)
    • → Punjabi: ਅਫਸੰਤੀਨ (aphasantīn)
• → Aramaic:

  Galilean: אפסינתינון (ap̄sinṭīnōn)

  Babylonian: אפסנתין (ap̄sinṭīn)

  Syriac: ܐܦܣܢܬܝܢ (ap̄sinṭīn), ܐܦܣܢܬܝܘܢ (ap̄sinṭiōn)

  • → Arabic: إِسْفِنْط (ʔisfinṭ), إِسْفَنْط (ʔisfanṭ), إِسْفِنْد (ʔisfind), إِسْفَنْد (ʔisfand)
• → Latin: absinthium (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Georgian: აფსინდი (apsindi), აფსინთი (apsinti)

Further reading

• “ἀψίνθιον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀψίνθιον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀψίνθιον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ἀψίνθιον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • wormwood idem, page 990.