Σκύθης

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Borrowed from Proto-Scythian *Skuδa, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to propel, shoot”). Cognate with Old Persian 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 (Skudra).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ský.tʰɛːs/ → /ˈscy.θis/ → /ˈsci.θis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ský.tʰɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈsky.tʰe̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈscy.θis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈscy.θis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsci.θis/

Noun

Σκῠ́θης • (Skúthēs) m (genitive Σκῠ́θου); first declension

1. an inhabitant of Scythia; a Scythian
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 4.2.1:

     Τοὺς δὲ δούλους οἱ Σκύθαι πάντας τυφλοῦσι τοῦ γάλακτος εἵνεκεν τοῦ πίνουσι ποιεῦντες ὧδε.

     Toùs dè doúlous hoi Skúthai pántas tuphloûsi toû gálaktos heíneken toû pínousi poieûntes hôde.

     Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing their milk.

Inflection

First declension of ὁ Σκῠ́θης; τοῦ Σκῠ́θου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Σκῠ́θης ho Skúthēs	τὼ Σκῠ́θᾱ tṑ Skúthā	οἱ Σκῠ́θαι hoi Skúthai
Genitive	τοῦ Σκῠ́θου toû Skúthou	τοῖν Σκῠ́θαιν toîn Skúthain	τῶν Σκῠθῶν tôn Skuthôn
Dative	τῷ Σκῠ́θῃ tôi Skúthēi	τοῖν Σκῠ́θαιν toîn Skúthain	τοῖς Σκῠ́θαις toîs Skúthais
Accusative	τὸν Σκῠ́θην tòn Skúthēn	τὼ Σκῠ́θᾱ tṑ Skúthā	τοὺς Σκῠ́θᾱς toùs Skúthās
Vocative	Σκῠ́θᾰ Skútha	Σκῠ́θᾱ Skúthā	Σκῠ́θαι Skúthai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Σκύθαινα f (Skúthaina)
• Σκυθία (Skuthía)
• Σκυθική (Skuthikḗ)
• Σκυθικός (Skuthikós)
• Σκυθιστί (Skuthistí)

Descendants

• Greek: Σκύθης (Skýthis) (plural Σκύθες (Skýthes))
• → Latin: Scytha, Scythēs
  • English: Scyth
  • French: Scythe
  • Italian: scita
  • Portuguese: cita
  • Spanish: escita
• → Old Armenian: սկիւթ (skiwtʻ)
  • Armenian: սկյութ (skyutʻ)
• → Russian: скиф (skif)

Further reading

• “Σκύθης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• G4658 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,025