βάλλις

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βάλις (bális)

Etymology

Depending on the exact medicinal properties possibly related to βᾰ́λλω (bắllō, “to throw; to strike; to tumble”). In Dioskurides it is given as another name of the squirting cucumber. Depending on the exterior appearance it can also be from βαλιός (baliós, “spotted, dappled”), itself suspected to be from Thracian, Illyrian, or Pre-Greek origin.

According to Beekes, it's together with βαλαύστιον (balaústion, “flower of the pomegranate”), βάλαρις (bálaris), βάλλαρις (bállaris, “uncertain plant”), βαλλωτή (ballōtḗ, “black horehound”) from Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bál.lis/ → /ˈβal.lis/ → /ˈva.lis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bál.lis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.lis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβal.lis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈval.lis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈva.lis/

Noun

βᾰ́λλῐς • (bắllĭs) f (genitive βᾰ́λλεως or βᾰ́λλιθος); third declension

1. a plant with wonderful medicinal properties
   • Xanth. 16
   • Xanth. 3
   • Arc. 30.14
   • Etymologicum Magnum 186.33.G.
   • TheodGramm 94.17

Declension

Third declension of ἡ βᾰ́λλῐς; τῆς βᾰ́λλεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βᾰ́λλῐς hē bắllĭs	τὼ βᾰ́λλει tṑ bắllei	αἱ βᾰ́λλεις hai bắlleis
Genitive	τῆς βᾰ́λλεως / βᾰ́λλιθος tês bắlleōs / bắllithos	τοῖν βᾰλλέοιν toîn bălléoin	τῶν βᾰ́λλεων tôn bắlleōn
Dative	τῇ βᾰ́λλει têi bắllei	τοῖν βᾰλλέοιν toîn bălléoin	ταῖς βᾰ́λλεσῐ / βᾰ́λλεσῐν taîs bắllesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν βᾰ́λλῐν tḕn bắllĭn	τὼ βᾰ́λλει tṑ bắllei	τᾱ̀ς βᾰ́λλεις tā̀s bắlleis
Vocative	βᾰ́λλῐ bắllĭ	βᾰ́λλει bắllei	βᾰ́λλεις bắlleis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

• “βάλλις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βάλλις in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• βάλλις in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• 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
• Frisk, Hjalmar (1960) “βάλλις”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume I, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 215
• “σίκυς ἄγριος – Ecballium elaterium”, in Dioscórides Interactivo‎^[1] (in Spanish), 2025