Φίννος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Germanic *finnaz. Compare Old Norse Finnr (“a Sami”), Latin Fenni. The name as used by Tacitus is unclear about whom it actually describes. More at Fenni.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰín.nos/ → /ˈɸin.nos/ → /ˈfi.nos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰín.nos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰin.nos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɸin.nos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈfin.nos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈfi.nos/

Noun

Φῐ́ννος • (Phínnos) m (genitive Φῐ́ννου); second declension

1. one of the Fenni or Phinnoi

Usage notes

The Latin Fennus (as mentioned by Tacitus) and the Ancient Greek term Φίννος (Phínnos) (as mentioned by Ptolemy) have ambiguous ancient meanings. The Finnish and broader Baltic Finnic peoples as they are known today were not well documented at the time, and it is unlikely that Φίννος (Phínnos) refers to them specifically. Rather, the term more likely referred to the Sami people (who at the time occupied most of what is now Finland), or more vaguely to far northern Europeans in general.

However, Finns as an ethnicity became far better documented (especially in Viking chronicles) during the Middle Ages. Today, the modern Greek term Φίννος (Fínnos) specifically refers to the Finnish people.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ Φῐ́ννος; τοῦ Φῐ́ννου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Φῐ́ννος ho Phínnos	τὼ Φῐ́ννω tṑ Phínnō	οἱ Φῐ́ννοι hoi Phínnoi
Genitive	τοῦ Φῐ́ννου toû Phínnou	τοῖν Φῐ́ννοιν toîn Phínnoin	τῶν Φῐ́ννων tôn Phínnōn
Dative	τῷ Φῐ́ννῳ tôi Phínnōi	τοῖν Φῐ́ννοιν toîn Phínnoin	τοῖς Φῐ́ννοις toîs Phínnois
Accusative	τὸν Φῐ́ννον tòn Phínnon	τὼ Φῐ́ννω tṑ Phínnō	τοὺς Φῐ́ννους toùs Phínnous
Vocative	Φῐ́ννε Phínne	Φῐ́ννω Phínnō	Φῐ́ννοι Phínnoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: Φίννος (Fínnos)

References

• Tacitus G.45-6
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• Ptolemy II.11 and III.5
• Ptolemy II.11 and III.5

Further reading

• Φίννος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette