βύσσος

See also: βυσσός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βῠ́σσᾰ (bússa)

Etymology

From a Semitic source cognate to Hebrew בּוּץ (būṣ, “byssus”) and Aramaic בּוּצָא (būṣā, “byssus”), from Proto-Semitic *būṣ- (“fibrous grass, rush etc.”). Compare also Old Armenian բեհեզ (behez, “byssus”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /býs.sos/ → /ˈβys.sos/ → /ˈvi.sos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /býs.sos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbys.sos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβys.sos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈvys.sos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.sos/

Noun

βύσσος • (bússos) f (genitive βύσσου); second declension

1. flax (Linum usitatissimum)
2. linen
3. Levant cotton (Gossypium herbaceum)
4. silk

Declension

Second declension of ἡ βῠ́σσος; τῆς βῠ́σσου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βῠ́σσος hē bússos	τὼ βῠ́σσω tṑ bússō	αἱ βῠ́σσοι hai bússoi
Genitive	τῆς βῠ́σσου tês bússou	τοῖν βῠ́σσοιν toîn bússoin	τῶν βῠ́σσων tôn bússōn
Dative	τῇ βῠ́σσῳ têi bússōi	τοῖν βῠ́σσοιν toîn bússoin	ταῖς βῠ́σσοις taîs bússois
Accusative	τὴν βῠ́σσον tḕn bússon	τὼ βῠ́σσω tṑ bússō	τᾱ̀ς βῠ́σσους tā̀s bússous
Vocative	βῠ́σσε bússe	βῠ́σσω bússō	βῠ́σσοι bússoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βῠσσῐ́νη (bussínē)
• βῠ́σσῐνος (bússinos)
• βῠ́σσωμᾰ (bússōma)

 

Descendants

• → Ge'ez: ቢሶስ (bisos), ብሶስ (bəsos), ቡሱስ (busus), በሱስ (bäsus), ብሲስ (bəsis), ብሱስ (bəsus), ቢሶን (bison, “fine green linen”)
  • ⇒ Ge'ez: ቢስንሶ (bisənso, “green”)
  • → Tigrinya: ቢሶ (biso, “green leather, velvet”)
• → Gothic: 𐌱𐍅𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌽 (bwssaun)
• → Latin: byssus, bissus
  • Translingual: Byssus
• → Old Uyghur: 𐽼𐽳𐽴 (böz)

Further reading

• “βύσσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βύσσος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βύσσος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN