κέρκος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of Pre-Greek origin. Compare κερκίς (kerkís).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kér.kos/ → /ˈcer.kos/ → /ˈcer.kos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kér.kos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈker.kos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.kos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.kos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.kos/

Noun

κέρκος • (kérkos) f (genitive κέρκου); second declension

1. the tail of a beast
   • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, The Acharnians 785
   • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 1031
   • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 909
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 254d
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Sertorius 16
   • 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 689b.2
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 565b.29
   • 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 1054
   • 4th century BC, Eubulus, Collected Works 130
2. a penis
   • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 239
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Herodas, Collected Works 5.45
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Herodas, Collected Works 3.68
3. a handle
   • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Lexiphanes 7
4. a small animal that attacks grapevines
   • 5th century CE, Hesychius Alexandreus, Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον
   1. Synonym of ἀλεκτρυών (alektruṓn)
      • 5th century CE, Hesychius Alexandreus, Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον
5. a tongue of flame
   • 408 BCE, Euripides, The Phoenician Women 1257
6. (Byzantine) a stake, picket, or pale
   • ScriptOr 259.21
7. (Byzantine) a burin (a chisel-like tool used for engraving)
   • VAndR e.69E

Declension

Second declension of ἡ κέρκος; τῆς κέρκου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κέρκος hē kérkos	τὼ κέρκω tṑ kérkō	αἱ κέρκοι hai kérkoi
Genitive	τῆς κέρκου tês kérkou	τοῖν κέρκοιν toîn kérkoin	τῶν κέρκων tôn kérkōn
Dative	τῇ κέρκῳ têi kérkōi	τοῖν κέρκοιν toîn kérkoin	ταῖς κέρκοις taîs kérkois
Accusative	τὴν κέρκον tḕn kérkon	τὼ κέρκω tṑ kérkō	τᾱ̀ς κέρκους tā̀s kérkous
Vocative	κέρκε kérke	κέρκω kérkō	κέρκοι kérkoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• κέρκουρος (kérkouros)

Descendants

• Translingual: ?Cercomacra, Cercopithecus, ?Onchocerca, Ptilocercus (generic names)
• English: cysticercus
• → Latin: cercus (New Latin)
  • → English: cercus

References

• “κέρκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• κέρκος 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