μυχός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The connection with Old Armenian մխեմ (mxem, “to insert; to immerse”) is obsolete and semantically doubtful. The group of Old Norse smjúga (“to slip in”) and Middle High German smiegen (“to nestle”) may theoretically derive from Proto-Indo-European *smewgʰ- like Greek, but the Germanic words may also go back to *(s)mewk- and correspond to Lithuanian smùkti (“to glide away”). Furnée thinks that this noun is Pre-Greek, but without further arguments. One argument could be the gloss βύσσαλος (bússalos, “depth, abyss”), if it really belongs here; another gloss would be μοχοῖ (mokhoî, “within, inside”), with a vocalic interchange.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /my.kʰós/ → /myˈxos/ → /miˈxos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /my.kʰós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /myˈkʰos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /myˈxos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /myˈxos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /miˈxos/

Noun

μῠχός • (mukhós) m (genitive μῠχοῦ); second declension

1. the inmost or furthest part of a place
2. recess, nook

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ μῠχός; τοῦ μῠχοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μῠχός ho mukhós	τὼ μῠχώ tṑ mukhṓ	οἱ μῠχοί hoi mukhoí
Genitive	τοῦ μῠχοῦ toû mukhoû	τοῖν μῠχοῖν toîn mukhoîn	τῶν μῠχῶν tôn mukhôn
Dative	τῷ μῠχῷ tôi mukhôi	τοῖν μῠχοῖν toîn mukhoîn	τοῖς μῠχοῖς toîs mukhoîs
Accusative	τὸν μῠχόν tòn mukhón	τὼ μῠχώ tṑ mukhṓ	τοὺς μῠχούς toùs mukhoús
Vocative	μῠχέ mukhé	μῠχώ mukhṓ	μῠχοί mukhoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Alternative neuter plural:

Second declension of τᾰ̀ μῠχᾰ́; τῶν μῠχῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	τᾰ̀ μῠχᾰ́ tà mukhá
Genitive	τῶν μῠχῶν tôn mukhôn
Dative	τοῖς μῠχοῖς toîs mukhoîs
Accusative	τᾰ̀ μῠχᾰ́ tà mukhá
Vocative	μῠχᾰ́ mukhá
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀμυχή (amukhḗ)
• ἑπτάμυχος (heptámukhos)
• μυχάλμη (mukhálmē)
• μύχαλος (múkhalos)
• μυχάς (mukhás)
• μύχατος (múkhatos)
• μυχή (mukhḗ)
• μύχιος (múkhios)
• μυχόθεν (mukhóthen)
• μυχοίτατος (mukhoítatos)
• μυχόνοος (mukhónoos)
• μυχόομαι (mukhóomai)
• μυχόπεδον (mukhópedon)
• μυχοπόντιον (mukhopóntion)
• μυχορήμων (mukhorḗmōn)
• μυχῷ (mukhôi)
• μυχώδης (mukhṓdēs)
• πεντάμυχος (pentámukhos)

 

Further reading

• “μυχός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μυχός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μυχός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• μυχός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • alcove idem, page 22.
  • arbour idem, page 38.
  • bay idem, page 65.
  • bend idem, page 73.
  • bower idem, page 92.
  • corner idem, page 174.
  • cove idem, page 179.
  • cranny idem, page 182.
  • creek idem, page 183.
  • haunt idem, page 388.
  • hiding-place idem, page 399.
  • inlet idem, page 442.
  • inmost idem, page 442.
  • lurking idem, page 505.
  • niche idem, page 558.
  • nook idem, page 562.
  • recess idem, page 678.
  • resort idem, page 703.
  • retreat idem, page 707.
• 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