χέλυς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *gʰelu-, *gʰelew- ,*gʰelōw- (“tortoise”). Related to χελώνη (khelṓnē, “tortoise”). Compare to Proto-Slavic *žьlvъ, whence Old Church Slavonic желу (želu, “turtle”), Polish żółw (“tortoise”).

Pronunciation

(Homeric)

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰé.lyːs/ → /ˈçe.lys/ → /ˈçe.lis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰé.lyːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰe.lys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lis/

(later poetry)

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰé.lys/ → /ˈçe.lys/ → /ˈçe.lis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰé.lys/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰe.lys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lis/

Noun

χέλῡς or χέλῠς • (khélūs or khélus) f (genitive χέλῠος); third declension

1. tortoise
   • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 33
2. lyre
   • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 25
   • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 153
   • 630 BCE – 570 BCE, Sappho, Collected Works 45
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Fragments 314
   • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 448
3. (astronomy) Lyra, a constellation
   • 315 BCE – 240 BCE, Aratus, Phaenomena 268
4. arched breast, chest
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, On Anatomy 1
   • 458 BCE, Euripides, Electra 837

Declension

Third declension of χέλῡς; χέλῠος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	χέλῡς khélūs	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Genitive	χέλῠος khéluos	χελῠ́οιῐν khelúoiin	χελῠ́ων khelúōn
Dative	χέλῠῐ̈ / χέλυι khéluï / khélui	χελῠ́οιῐν khelúoiin	χελῠ́εσσῐ / χελῠ́εσσῐν / χέλῡσῐ / χέλῡσῐν / χέλῡσσῐ / χέλῡσσῐν khelúessi(n) / khélūsi(n) / khélūssi(n)
Accusative	χέλῡν khélūn	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῡς / χέλῠᾰς khélūs / khéluas
Vocative	χέλῡ khélū	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of ἡ χέλῠς; τῆς χέλῠος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ χέλῠς hē khélus	τὼ χέλῠε tṑ khélue	αἱ χέλῠες hai khélues
Genitive	τῆς χέλῠος tês khéluos	τοῖν χελῠ́οιν toîn khelúoin	τῶν χελῠ́ων tôn khelúōn
Dative	τῇ χέλῠῐ̈ / χέλυι têi khéluï / khélui	τοῖν χελῠ́οιν toîn khelúoin	ταῖς χέλῠσῐ / χέλῠσῐν taîs khélusi(n)
Accusative	τὴν χέλῠν tḕn khélun	τὼ χέλῠε tṑ khélue	τᾱ̀ς χέλῡς / χέλῠᾰς tā̀s khélūs / khéluas
Vocative	χέλῠ khélu	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (tortoise): χελώνη (khelṓnē)
• (arched breast, chest): χελώνιον (khelṓnion)

Derived terms

• χέλῠδρος (khéludros)

Descendants

• Latin: chelys

References

• “χέλυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χέλυς”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χέλυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• χέλυς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • lyre idem, page 506.