μορφή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of unclear origin:

• Many attempts have been made to connect it with Latin fōrma (“form”) (see there for theory of its origin), but the proposed relationship is problematic. Beekes suggests that the Latin was either loaned from Greek via an intermediary like Etruscan, or that the Latin and Greek were both inherited from a Proto-Indo-European *mergʷʰ-, with the Latin undergoing metathesis > *gʷʰerm- > *gʷʰorm- > *form-.
• An alternative relationship has been proposed with Baltic terms like Latgalian mārga (“daughter, lass”) and Lithuanian mergà (“girl”), with a semantic shift "shape" > "lovely shape" > "girl". If so, then the Greek and Baltic terms are from, per Beekes, a Proto-Indo-European *mergʷʰ-h₂-, with the Greek deriving from an o-grade. However, the Baltic terms are more commonly derived from a root *mer- (“young boy, girl”) (whence Latin marītus (“husband”)), making this theory doubtful.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mor.pʰɛ̌ː/ → /morˈɸi/ → /morˈfi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mor.pʰɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /morˈpʰe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /morˈɸi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /morˈfi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /morˈfi/

Noun

μορφή • (morphḗ) f (genitive μορφῆς); first declension

1. shape, form
2. appearance
3. outline
4. kind, type

Inflection

First declension of ἡ μορφή; τῆς μορφῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μορφή hē morphḗ	τὼ μορφᾱ́ tṑ morphā́	αἱ μορφαί hai morphaí
Genitive	τῆς μορφῆς tês morphês	τοῖν μορφαῖν toîn morphaîn	τῶν μορφῶν tôn morphôn
Dative	τῇ μορφῇ têi morphêi	τοῖν μορφαῖν toîn morphaîn	ταῖς μορφαῖς taîs morphaîs
Accusative	τὴν μορφήν tḕn morphḗn	τὼ μορφᾱ́ tṑ morphā́	τᾱ̀ς μορφᾱ́ς tā̀s morphā́s
Vocative	μορφή morphḗ	μορφᾱ́ morphā́	μορφαί morphaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Μορφεύς (Morpheús)
• μορφόω (morphóō)
• πεντᾰ́μορφος (pentámorphos)
• τετρᾰ́μορφος (tetrámorphos)

 

Descendants

• Greek: μορφή f (morfí)

Further reading

• “μορφή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μορφή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μορφή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μορφή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• μορφή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G3444 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • appearance idem, page 35.
  • fashion idem, page 308.
  • figure idem, page 319.
  • form idem, page 338.
  • shape idem, page 762.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ).

Noun

μορφή • (morfí) f (plural μορφές)

1. form, shape

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	μορφή (morfí)	μορφές (morfés)
genitive	μορφής (morfís)	μορφών (morfón)
accusative	μορφή (morfí)	μορφές (morfés)
vocative	μορφή (morfí)	μορφές (morfés)

Related terms

• αγγελόμορφος (angelómorfos, “angelic”)
• αμεταμόρφωτος (ametamórfotos, “untransformed”)
• αμορφία f (amorfía, “shapelessness”)
• αμορφοποίητος (amorfopoíitos, “unshaped”)
• άμορφος (ámorfos, “amorphous, shapeless”)
• μεταμορφώνω (metamorfóno, “to transform”)
• όμορφος (ómorfos, “beautiful”)

 

• and compare with: μόρφωση f (mórfosi, “education”)