ὄνυξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ- (“nail”). Cognates include Latin unguis, Old Irish inga, Sanskrit नख (nakhá, “claw, nail”), Old Armenian եղունգն (ełungn), Persian ناخن (nâxon), Old Church Slavonic ногъть (nogŭtĭ), Lithuanian nagas, Albanian nyell, and Old English næġl (English nail).

The "onyx (gem)" sense is probably from the same source as the "nail" sense, perhaps due to the gem's nail-like white glaze, though a foreign borrowing reshaped by folk etymology is not out of the question.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ó.nyks/ → /ˈo.nyks/ → /ˈo.niks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ó.nyks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nyks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nyks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nyks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈo.niks/

Noun

ὄνῠξ • (ónux) m (genitive ὄνῠχος); third declension

1. claw, nail, hoof, talon
2. anything which resembles a claw or nail
   1. scraping tool
   2. onyx (gem)
   3. a kind of aromatic substance

Declension

Third declension of ὁ ὄνῠξ; τοῦ ὄνῠχος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὄνῠξ ho ónux	τὼ ὄνῠχε tṑ ónukhe	οἱ ὄνῠχες hoi ónukhes
Genitive	τοῦ ὄνῠχος toû ónukhos	τοῖν ὀνῠ́χοιν toîn onúkhoin	τῶν ὀνῠ́χων tôn onúkhōn
Dative	τῷ ὄνῠχῐ tôi ónukhi	τοῖν ὀνῠ́χοιν toîn onúkhoin	τοῖς ὄνῠξῐ / ὄνῠξῐν toîs ónuxi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ὄνῠχᾰ tòn ónukha	τὼ ὄνῠχε tṑ ónukhe	τοὺς ὄνῠχᾰς toùs ónukhas
Vocative	ὄνῠξ ónux	ὄνῠχε ónukhe	ὄνῠχες ónukhes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ὄνῠξ; ὄνῠχος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὄνῠξ ónux	ὄνῠχε ónukhe	ὄνῠχες ónukhes
Genitive	ὄνῠχος ónukhos	ὀνῠ́χοιῐν onúkhoiin	ὀνῠ́χων onúkhōn
Dative	ὄνῠχῐ ónukhi	ὀνῠ́χοιῐν onúkhoiin	ὄνῠξῐ / ὄνῠξῐν / ὀνῠ́χεσσῐ / ὀνῠ́χεσσῐν / ὀνῠ́χεσῐ / ὀνῠ́χεσῐν ónuxi(n) / onúkhessi(n) / onúkhesi(n)
Accusative	ὄνῠχᾰ ónukha	ὄνῠχε ónukhe	ὄνῠχᾰς ónukhas
Vocative	ὄνῠξ ónux	ὄνῠχε ónukhe	ὄνῠχες ónukhes
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• γαμψῶνυξ (gampsônux)
• εἰς ὄνῠχᾰ (eis ónukha)
• ὀνύχινος (onúkhinos)
• ὀνύχιον (onúkhion)
• σαρδόνῠξ (sardónux)

 

Descendants

• Byzantine Greek: νύχιν (núkhin) (from diminutive ὀνύχιον)
  • Greek: νύχι (nýchi)
  • Mariupol Greek: ныш (nyš), ниш (niš)
• → Latin: onyx
  • Old French: oniche, onix
    • French: onyx
      • → Dutch: onyx
      • → Romanian: onix
    • → Middle English: oniche, oneche, onix, onis, onyx, onys
      • English: onyx
      • Scots: onix
• → Russian: о́никс (óniks)
  • → Kazakh: оникс (oniks)

See also

• ἧλος (hêlos)

Further reading

• “ὄνυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὄνυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ὄνυξ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ὄνυξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ὄνυξ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ὄνυξ”, 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.
  • claw idem, page 136.
  • nail idem, page 550.
  • talon idem, page 854.
• “ὄνυξ”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011