ἐρείκη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἐρῑ́κη (erī́kē) — Later poetic

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Hellenic *weréykā, with no clear Proto-Indo-European etymon. The similarity of Proto-Celtic *wroikos (“heather”) and Proto-Balto-Slavic *werˀź-, *wirˀź- (whence Lithuanian vìržis (“heather”), Latvian vir̂zis (“heather”), Proto-Slavic *vȇrsъ, *vȇrskъ) have led Beekes and Matasović to support a common non-Indo-European substrate source. It is sometimes linked to Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to twist, turn”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.rěː.kɛː/ → /eˈri.ci/ → /eˈri.ci/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.rěː.kɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /eˈri.ke̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈri.ci/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈri.ci/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈri.ci/

Noun

ἐρείκη • (ereíkē) f (genitive ἐρείκης); first declension

1. heath (Erica arborea)
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 295
   • 446 BCE – 411 BCE, Eupolis, Collected Works 14.4
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 5.64
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 1.14.2
   • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, Materia medica 1.88

Declension

First declension of ἡ ἐρείκη; τῆς ἐρείκης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἐρείκη hē ereíkē	τὼ ἐρείκᾱ tṑ ereíkā	αἱ ἐρεῖκαι hai ereîkai
Genitive	τῆς ἐρείκης tês ereíkēs	τοῖν ἐρείκαιν toîn ereíkain	τῶν ἐρεικῶν tôn ereikôn
Dative	τῇ ἐρείκῃ têi ereíkēi	τοῖν ἐρείκαιν toîn ereíkain	ταῖς ἐρείκαις taîs ereíkais
Accusative	τὴν ἐρείκην tḕn ereíkēn	τὼ ἐρείκᾱ tṑ ereíkā	τᾱ̀ς ἐρείκᾱς tā̀s ereíkās
Vocative	ἐρείκη ereíkē	ἐρείκᾱ ereíkā	ἐρεῖκαι ereîkai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἐρεικαῖον (ereikaîon)
• ἐρεικηρόν (ereikērón)
• ἐρείκῐνος (ereíkinos)
• ἐρείκῐον (ereíkion)
• ἐρεικίς (ereikís)
• ἐρεικῑ́τας (ereikī́tas)
• ἐρεικόεις (ereikóeis)
• ὑπέρεικος (hupéreikos)

 

Descendants

• → Latin: erīcē
  • → English: ericaceous
  • Translingual: Erica, Erica arborea

Further reading

• “ἐρείκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἐρείκη 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.
  • heather idem, page 393.