αἶρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Perhaps related to Sanskrit एरका (erakā, “a kind of grass”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /âi̯.ra/ → /ˈɛ.ra/ → /ˈe.ra/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /âi̯.ra/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ra/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ra/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ra/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ra/

Noun

αἶρᾰ • (aîră) f (genitive αἴρας); first declension

1. ryegrass, darnel (Lolium temulentum)

   Synonyms: ζιζάνιον (zizánion), θύαρος (thúaros)

   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 1.5.2
   • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, Fragments 412
   • 5th century BC, Pherecrates, 188
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, On Sleep 456b.30
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Herodas, 6 100

Inflection

First declension of ἡ αἶρᾰ; τῆς αἴρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ αἶρᾰ hē aîră	τὼ αἴρᾱ tṑ aírā	αἱ αἶραι hai aîrai
Genitive	τῆς αἴρᾱς tês aírās	τοῖν αἴραιν toîn aírain	τῶν αἰρῶν tôn airôn
Dative	τῇ αἴρᾳ têi aírāi	τοῖν αἴραιν toîn aírain	ταῖς αἴραις taîs aírais
Accusative	τὴν αἶρᾰν tḕn aîrăn	τὼ αἴρᾱ tṑ aírā	τᾱ̀ς αἴρᾱς tā̀s aírās
Vocative	αἶρᾰ aîră	αἴρᾱ aírā	αἶραι aîrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• αἴρῐνος (aírĭnos)
• αἰρώδης (airṓdēs)
• ἐξαιρόομαι (exairóomai)

Further reading

• “αἶρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• αἶρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “αἶρα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 42