πτερόν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather”). Related to πέτομαι (pétomai, “I fly”), as well as to English feather.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pte.rón/ → /pteˈron/ → /pteˈron/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pte.rón/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pteˈron/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /pteˈron/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /pteˈron/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /pteˈron/

Noun

πτερόν • (pterón) n (genitive πτεροῦ); second declension

1. feather
2. wing
3. Any winged creature
4. Any wing-like object

Usage notes

• Usually plural.
• Along with ᾠόν (ōión), λουτρόν (loutrón), ζυγόν (zugón) and ἑρπετόν (herpetón), this is one of the very few neuter nouns that does not have a recessive accent.

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ πτερόν; τοῦ πτεροῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πτερόν tò pterón	τὼ πτερώ tṑ pterṓ	τᾰ̀ πτερᾰ́ tà pterá
Genitive	τοῦ πτεροῦ toû pteroû	τοῖν πτεροῖν toîn pteroîn	τῶν πτερῶν tôn pterôn
Dative	τῷ πτερῷ tôi pterôi	τοῖν πτεροῖν toîn pteroîn	τοῖς πτεροῖς toîs pteroîs
Accusative	τὸ πτερόν tò pterón	τὼ πτερώ tṑ pterṓ	τᾰ̀ πτερᾰ́ tà pterá
Vocative	πτερόν pterón	πτερώ pterṓ	πτερᾰ́ pterá
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• δῐ́πτερος (dípteros)
• κολεόπτερος (koleópteros)
• κῠᾰνόπτερος (kuanópteros)
• λευκόπτερος (leukópteros)
• μελᾰνόπτερος (melanópteros)
• ποικῐλόπτερος (poikilópteros)
• πτέρῐνος (ptérinos)
• πτερόεις (pteróeis)
• ὑμενόπτερος (humenópteros)

 

Descendants

• Greek: φτερό (fteró)
• → English: ptero-
• French: hélicoptère

Further reading

• “πτερόν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πτερόν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πτερόν”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πτερόν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πτερόν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “πτερόν”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • arrow idem, page 42.
  • augury idem, page 52.
  • bolt idem, page 88.
  • feather idem, page 313.
  • omen idem, page 572.
  • pinion idem, page 614.
  • plume idem, page 621.
  • quill idem, page 667.
  • shaft idem, page 760.
  • sign idem, page 774.
  • wing idem, page 981.
• “πτερόν”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011