γεράνιον

Ancient Greek

Erodium malacoides flowers and fruit resembling a crane's bill.

Etymology

From γέρανος (géranos, “crane”) +‎ -ιον (-ion, diminutive suffix). The reference to cranes in the plant names is due to the elongated fruits of these plants, which have a characteristic shape reminiscent of the elongated bill of a bird such as a crane (see picture). Compare English storksbill, Dutch reigersbek, ooievaarsbek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡe.rá.ni.on/ → /ʝeˈra.ni.on/ → /ʝeˈra.ni.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡe.rá.ni.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ɡeˈra.ni.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ʝeˈra.ni.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ʝeˈra.ni.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ʝeˈra.ni.on/

Noun

γερᾰ́νῐον • (geránion) n (genitive γερᾰνῐ́ου); second declension

1. cranesbill (Geranium tuberosum)
2. storksbill (Erodium malacoides)
3. kind of whitening substance used in alchemy

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ γερᾰ́νῐον; τοῦ γερᾰνῐ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ γερᾰ́νῐον tò geránion	τὼ γερᾰνῐ́ω tṑ geraníō	τᾰ̀ γερᾰ́νῐᾰ tà geránia
Genitive	τοῦ γερᾰνῐ́ου toû geraníou	τοῖν γερᾰνῐ́οιν toîn geraníoin	τῶν γερᾰνῐ́ων tôn geraníōn
Dative	τῷ γερᾰνῐ́ῳ tôi geraníōi	τοῖν γερᾰνῐ́οιν toîn geraníoin	τοῖς γερᾰνῐ́οις toîs geraníois
Accusative	τὸ γερᾰ́νῐον tò geránion	τὼ γερᾰνῐ́ω tṑ geraníō	τᾰ̀ γερᾰ́νῐᾰ tà geránia
Vocative	γερᾰ́νῐον geránion	γερᾰνῐ́ω geraníō	γερᾰ́νῐᾰ geránia
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Translingual: Geranium

Further reading

• “γεράνιον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• γεράνιον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• γεράνιον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)