κηφήν

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 8 July 2018

Alternative forms

• καφάν (kaphán)

Etymology

Perhaps from Pre-Greek. Previously related to κωφός (kōphós, “dumb, deaf”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kɛː.pʰɛ̌ːn/ → /ciˈɸin/ → /ciˈfin/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kɛː.pʰɛ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ke̝ˈpʰe̝n/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ciˈɸin/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ciˈfin/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ciˈfin/

Noun

κηφήν • (kēphḗn) m (genitive κηφῆνος); third declension

1. an apian drone (male bee)

   Synonym: θρῶναξ (thrônax)

   • 342 BCE – 291 BCE, Diphilus, Collected Works 126.7
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 553b.5
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 624b.12
2. (used disparagingly of people) a lazy vagabond
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 304
   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 595
   • 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 1114
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 552c
   1. a literary plagiarist
      • Palatine Anthology 7.708
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.42a
   2. (figuratively) a worn-out, decrepit person
      • 415 BCE, Euripides, The Trojan Women 192
      • 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 1365

Declension

Third declension of ὁ κηφήν; τοῦ κηφῆνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κηφήν ho kēphḗn	τὼ κηφῆνε tṑ kēphêne	οἱ κηφῆνες hoi kēphênes
Genitive	τοῦ κηφῆνος toû kēphênos	τοῖν κηφήνοιν toîn kēphḗnoin	τῶν κηφήνων tôn kēphḗnōn
Dative	τῷ κηφῆνῐ tôi kēphêni	τοῖν κηφήνοιν toîn kēphḗnoin	τοῖς κηφῆσῐ / κηφῆσῐν toîs kēphêsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν κηφῆνᾰ tòn kēphêna	τὼ κηφῆνε tṑ kēphêne	τοὺς κηφῆνᾰς toùs kēphênas
Vocative	κηφήν kēphḗn	κηφῆνε kēphêne	κηφῆνες kēphênes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: κηφήνας (kifínas)
• Latin: cēphēnes

Further reading

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