phalanx

See also: Phalanx

English

WOTD – 4 December 2015

Bones of the hand: carpals, metacarpals and phalanges

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin phalanx or Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “battle order, array”). Doublet of plank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪlæŋks/
• Hyphenation: pha‧lanx

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

phalanx (plural phalanxes or phalanges)

1. (historical, plural phalanxes) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
2. (historical sociology) A Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.
3. (plural phalanxes) A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.
4. (anatomy, plural phalanges) One of the bones of the finger or toe.

Synonyms

• (anatomy, bone of the finger or toe): phalange

Hyponyms

• (bone of the finger): distal phalanx, intermediate phalanx, proximal phalanx

Translations

ancient Greek military unit

• Armenian: փաղանգ (hy) (pʻaġang)
• Belarusian: фала́нга f (falánha)
• Catalan: falange (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方陣／方阵 (zh) (fāngzhèn), 方阵 (zh) (fāngzhèn)

• Czech: falanga (cs) f
• Danish: falanks c
• Dutch: falanx (nl)
• Esperanto: falango
• Finnish: falangi (fi)
• French: phalange (fr) f
• German: Phalanx (de) f
• Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga)

  Ancient: φάλαγξ f (phálanx)

• Icelandic: kjúka (is) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: falang m
• Italian: falange (it) f
• Japanese: ファランクス (farankusu)
• Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga)
• Polish: falanga (pl) f
• Portuguese: falange (pt) f
• Romanian: falangă (ro) f
• Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фаланга f

  Roman: falanga (sh) f

• Slovene: falanga f
• Swedish: falang (sv) c
• Ukrainian: фала́нга (uk) f (falánha)

finger or toe bone

• Arabic: سُلَامَى m (sulāmā), سُلَامِيَّة f (sulāmiyya)
• Armenian: մատնահատված (matnahatvac)
• Belarusian: фала́нга f (falánha)
• Bulgarian: фала́нга (bg) f (falánga)
• Catalan: falange (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指骨 (zh) (zhǐgǔ), (toe bone) 趾骨 (zhǐgǔ)

• Czech: článek prstu m
• Danish: falanks c
• Esperanto: falango
• Finnish: varpaanluu (toe), sormiluu (fi) (finger)
• French: phalange (fr) f
• German: Fingerglied n, (toe bone) Zehenglied n
• Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga)
• Hebrew: גָּלִיל (he) m (galíl)
• Icelandic: kjúka (is) f
• Italian: falange (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 指骨 (しこつ, shikotsu), (toe bone) 趾骨 (しこつ, shikotsu)
• Korean: 지골 (jigol)
• Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga)
• Malay: falanks
• Polish: paliczek (pl) m
• Portuguese: falange (pt) f
• Romanian: falangă (ro) f
• Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga), суста́в па́льца m (sustáv pálʹca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фаланга f

  Roman: falanga (sh) f

• Slovak: článok prstu m
• Spanish: falange (es) f
• Swedish: falang (sv) c
• Ukrainian: фала́нга (uk) f (falánha)
• Volapük: (finger) doatabomil, (toe) teanabomil

large group of animals, plants, or people

• Italian: orda (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

large group of people

• Catalan: falange (ca) f
• Finnish: falangi (fi)
• Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga)
• Italian: orda (it) f
• Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фаланга f

  Roman: falanga (sh) f

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Latin

Alternative forms

• falanx (later form)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx). Compare Latin phalanga.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰa.lanks/, [ˈpʰäɫ̪äŋks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfa.lanks/, [ˈfäːläŋks]

Noun

phalanx f (genitive phalangis); third declension

1. phalanx, battalion

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	phalanx	phalangēs
Genitive	phalangis	phalangum
Dative	phalangī	phalangibus
Accusative	phalangem	phalangēs
Ablative	phalange	phalangibus
Vocative	phalanx	phalangēs

Related terms

• phalanga

Descendants

• Catalan: falange
• English: phalanx, phalange
• French: phalange

• Italian: falange
• Portuguese: falange
• Spanish: falange

References

• “phalanx”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “phalanx”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• phalanx in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to form a phalanx: phalangem facere (B. G. 1. 24)
    
  • to break through the phalanx: phalangem perfringere
    
• “phalanx”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “phalanx”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin