θύρσος

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 19 January 2015

Etymology

Probably an Anatolian loanword; compare Luwian [script needed] (tuwarsa, “vine”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰýr.sos/ → /ˈθyr.sos/ → /ˈθir.sos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰýr.sos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰyr.sos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθyr.sos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθyr.sos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθir.sos/

Noun

θῠ́ρσος • (thŭ́rsos) m (genitive θῠ́ρσου); second declension

1. thyrsus, a wand wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a pine-cone or a blooming artichoke at the top, carried by the devotees of Dionysus
2. the devotees themselves
3. Hesychius defines it as κλάδος (kládos, “stick, branch”), ῥάβδος (rhábdos, “stick, rod”)

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ θῠ́ρσος; τοῦ θῠ́ρσου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ θῠ́ρσος ho thŭ́rsos	τὼ θῠ́ρσω tṑ thŭ́rsō	οἱ θῠ́ρσοι hoi thŭ́rsoi
Genitive	τοῦ θῠ́ρσου toû thŭ́rsou	τοῖν θῠ́ρσοιν toîn thŭ́rsoin	τῶν θῠ́ρσων tôn thŭ́rsōn
Dative	τῷ θῠ́ρσῳ tôi thŭ́rsōi	τοῖν θῠ́ρσοιν toîn thŭ́rsoin	τοῖς θῠ́ρσοις toîs thŭ́rsois
Accusative	τὸν θῠ́ρσον tòn thŭ́rson	τὼ θῠ́ρσω tṑ thŭ́rsō	τοὺς θῠ́ρσους toùs thŭ́rsous
Vocative	θῠ́ρσε thŭ́rse	θῠ́ρσω thŭ́rsō	θῠ́ρσοι thŭ́rsoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἄθῠρσος (áthŭrsos)
• θῠρσᾰ́ζω (thŭrsắzō)
• θῠρσᾰ́ρῐον (thŭrsắrĭon)
• θῠρσεχθής (thŭrsekhthḗs)
• θῠρσῐ́ᾰμβος (thŭrsĭ́ămbos)
• θῠρσῐ́νη (thŭrsĭ́nē)
• θῠ́ρσῐον (thŭ́rsĭon)
• θῠρσῐ́της (thŭrsĭ́tēs)
• θῠρσῐ́ων (thŭrsĭ́ōn)
• θῠρσοειδής (thŭrsoeidḗs)
• θῠρσοκόμος (thŭrsokómos)
• θῠρσόλογχος (thŭrsólonkhos)
• θῠρσομᾰνής (thŭrsomănḗs)
• θῠρσοπλήξ (thŭrsoplḗx)
• θῠρσοτῐνᾰ́κτης (thŭrsotĭnắktēs)
• θῠρσοφόρος (thŭrsophóros)
• θῠρσοχᾰρής (thŭrsokhărḗs)
• θῠρσόω (thŭrsóō)

Descendants

• → Latin: thyrsus (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “θύρσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “θύρσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• θύρσος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • thyrsus idem, page 873.