βάταλος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βαδᾶς (badâs), βατᾶς (batâs), βάτταλος (báttalos)

Etymology

There has been an attempt to link this word with βατέω (batéō, “to mount”) but the presence of the alternative forms dismisses this theory. Furnée correctly connects the word with σπάταλος (spátalos, “lewd, lascivious”), which indicates a common Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bǎː.ta.los/ → /ˈβa.ta.los/ → /ˈva.ta.los/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bǎː.ta.los/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈba.ta.los/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβa.ta.los/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈva.ta.los/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈva.ta.los/

Noun

βᾱ́τᾰλος • (bā́talos) m (genitive βᾱτᾰ́λου); second declension

1. (anatomy) anus
2. catamite, lewd man

   Synonyms: κίναιδος (kínaidos), λάσταυρος (lástauros), μαρικᾶς (marikâs)

3. stammerer
4. nickname for Demosthenes

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ βᾱ́τᾰλος; τοῦ βᾱτᾰ́λου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βᾱ́τᾰλος ho bā́talos	τὼ βᾱτᾰ́λω tṑ bātálō	οἱ βᾱ́τᾰλοι hoi bā́taloi
Genitive	τοῦ βᾱτᾰ́λου toû bātálou	τοῖν βᾱτᾰ́λοιν toîn bātáloin	τῶν βᾱτᾰ́λων tôn bātálōn
Dative	τῷ βᾱτᾰ́λῳ tôi bātálōi	τοῖν βᾱτᾰ́λοιν toîn bātáloin	τοῖς βᾱτᾰ́λοις toîs bātálois
Accusative	τὸν βᾱ́τᾰλον tòn bā́talon	τὼ βᾱτᾰ́λω tṑ bātálō	τοὺς βᾱτᾰ́λους toùs bātálous
Vocative	βᾱ́τᾰλε bā́tale	βᾱτᾰ́λω bātálō	βᾱ́τᾰλοι bā́taloi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βᾱτᾰλῐ́ζομαι (bātalízomai)

Further reading

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