κερκίς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unclear; possibly either from Pre-Greek or a diminutive form of κέρκος (kérkos, “tail”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ker.kís/ → /cerˈcis/ → /cerˈcis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ker.kís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kerˈkis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /cerˈcis/

Noun

κερκῐ́ς • (kerkĭ́s) f (genitive κερκῐ́δος); third declension

1. weaver's shuttle
2. any taper rod, of wood or ivory
3. measuring rod, gnomon
4. rod for stirring liquids
5. iron dowel
6. (architecture) wedge shaped division of the seats in the theatre
7. (anatomy) tibia
8. aspen (Populus tremula)
9. Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum)

   Synonym: σημύδα (sēmúda)

10. white bryony

Declension

Third declension of ἡ κερκῐ́ς; τῆς κερκῐ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κερκῐ́ς hē kerkĭ́s	τὼ κερκῐ́δε tṑ kerkĭ́de	αἱ κερκῐ́δες hai kerkĭ́des
Genitive	τῆς κερκῐ́δος tês kerkĭ́dos	τοῖν κερκῐ́δοιν toîn kerkĭ́doin	τῶν κερκῐ́δων tôn kerkĭ́dōn
Dative	τῇ κερκῐ́δῐ têi kerkĭ́dĭ	τοῖν κερκῐ́δοιν toîn kerkĭ́doin	ταῖς κερκῐ́σῐ / κερκῐ́σῐν taîs kerkĭ́sĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν κερκῐ́δᾰ tḕn kerkĭ́dă	τὼ κερκῐ́δε tṑ kerkĭ́de	τᾱ̀ς κερκῐ́δᾰς tā̀s kerkĭ́dăs
Vocative	κερκῐ́ς kerkĭ́s	κερκῐ́δε kerkĭ́de	κερκῐ́δες kerkĭ́des
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Derived terms

• κερκίδιον (kerkídion)
• κερκιδιαῖον (kerkidiaîon)
• κερκίζω (kerkízō)
• κέρκισις (kérkisis)
• κέρκιστρα (kérkistra)
• παρακερκίς (parakerkís)

Descendants

• Cercis

Further reading

• “κερκίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κερκίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κερκίς 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.
  • shuttle idem, page 772.
• 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