δεκάς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Derived from δέκᾰ (dékă) +‎ -ᾰ́ς (-ắs); compare δυάς (duás), τριάς (triás), τετράς (tetrás), χιλιάς (khiliás), μυριάς (muriás). Formal similarities with Proto-Slavic *desętь, Lithuanian dešimt, Latvian desmit (dental suffix indicating collectivity).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /de.kás/ → /ðeˈkas/ → /ðeˈkas/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /de.kás/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /deˈkas/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðeˈkas/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðeˈkas/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðeˈkas/

Noun

δεκᾰ́ς • (dekắs) f (genitive δεκᾰ́δος); third declension

1. the number ten
2. a group of ten, decade (i.e. ten of something, not necessarily years)

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ δεκᾰ́ς; τῆς δεκᾰ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δεκᾰ́ς hē dekắs	τὼ δεκᾰ́δε tṑ dekắde	αἱ δεκᾰ́δες hai dekắdes
Genitive	τῆς δεκᾰ́δος tês dekắdos	τοῖν δεκᾰ́δοιν toîn dekắdoin	τῶν δεκᾰ́δων tôn dekắdōn
Dative	τῇ δεκᾰ́δῐ têi dekắdĭ	τοῖν δεκᾰ́δοιν toîn dekắdoin	ταῖς δεκᾰ́σῐ / δεκᾰ́σῐν taîs dekắsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν δεκᾰ́δᾰ tḕn dekắdă	τὼ δεκᾰ́δε tṑ dekắde	τᾱ̀ς δεκᾰ́δᾰς tā̀s dekắdăs
Vocative	δεκᾰ́ς dekắs	δεκᾰ́δε dekắde	δεκᾰ́δες dekắdes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Descendants

• English: decade

References

• “δεκάς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δεκάς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δεκάς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• δεκάς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• δεκάς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• δεκάς 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
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • ten idem, page 860.