μέσπιλον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μεσπίλη (mespílē)

Etymology

A loanword of Pre-Greek origin because no Indo-European cognates can be found, as plant names are more frequently borrowed and, particularly concerning this term, the medlar is native to the regions of Iran, southwest Asia and southeastern Europe and its Black Sea coasts so that it was unknown to the speakers of Proto-Indo-European and borrowing became necessary. Possibly a cognate to Proto-Kartvelian *sxmarṭl- (“medlar”) with metathesis of the initial consonants.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /més.pi.lon/ → /ˈmes.pi.lon/ → /ˈmes.pi.lon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /més.pi.lon/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lon/

Noun

μέσπιλον • (méspilon) n (genitive μεσπίλου); second declension

1. medlar (Mespilus germanica)

   Synonyms: ἐπῐμηλῐ́ς (epimēlís), σητᾰ́νῐον (sētánion)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ μέσπῐλον; τοῦ μεσπῐ́λου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ μέσπῐλον tò méspilon	τὼ μεσπῐ́λω tṑ mespílō	τᾰ̀ μέσπῐλᾰ tà méspila
Genitive	τοῦ μεσπῐ́λου toû mespílou	τοῖν μεσπῐ́λοιν toîn mespíloin	τῶν μεσπῐ́λων tôn mespílōn
Dative	τῷ μεσπῐ́λῳ tôi mespílōi	τοῖν μεσπῐ́λοιν toîn mespíloin	τοῖς μεσπῐ́λοις toîs mespílois
Accusative	τὸ μέσπῐλον tò méspilon	τὼ μεσπῐ́λω tṑ mespílō	τᾰ̀ μέσπῐλᾰ tà méspila
Vocative	μέσπῐλον méspilon	μεσπῐ́λω mespílō	μέσπῐλᾰ méspila
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Byzantine Greek: μούσπουλον (moúspoulon)
  • Greek: μούσμουλο (moúsmoulo) (see there for further descendants)
• → Latin: mespilum, mespila, *nespila, *nespira, *nespirum (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “μέσπιλον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μέσπιλον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette