μῖμος

See also: μίμος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Probably a Pre-Greek loan. The traditional connection with Sanskrit माया (māyā́, “art, illusion”) now appears semantically unlikely.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mîː.mos/ → /ˈmi.mos/ → /ˈmi.mos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mîː.mos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.mos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.mos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.mos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.mos/

Noun

μῖμος • (mîmos) m (genitive μῑ́μου); second declension

1. mime, actor
2. imitation, mimicking
3. mime (a drama of everyday life without choir)

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ μῖμος; τοῦ μῑ́μου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μῖμος ho mîmos	τὼ μῑ́μω tṑ mī́mō	οἱ μῖμοι hoi mîmoi
Genitive	τοῦ μῑ́μου toû mī́mou	τοῖν μῑ́μοιν toîn mī́moin	τῶν μῑ́μων tôn mī́mōn
Dative	τῷ μῑ́μῳ tôi mī́mōi	τοῖν μῑ́μοιν toîn mī́moin	τοῖς μῑ́μοις toîs mī́mois
Accusative	τὸν μῖμον tòn mîmon	τὼ μῑ́μω tṑ mī́mō	τοὺς μῑ́μους toùs mī́mous
Vocative	μῖμε mîme	μῑ́μω mī́mō	μῖμοι mîmoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀρχίμῑμος (arkhímīmos)
• μῑμάς (mīmás)
• Μῑ́μας (Mī́mas)
• μῑ́μαστα (mī́masta)
• μῑμαυλέω (mīmauléō)
• μῑ́μαυλος (mī́maulos)
• μῑμεία (mīmeía)
• μῑμέομαι (mīméomai)
• μῑμηλός (mīmēlós)
• μῑ́μημα (mī́mēma)
• μῑ́μησις (mī́mēsis)
• μῑμητέος (mīmētéos)
• μῑμητής (mīmētḗs)
• μῑμητικός (mīmētikós)
• μῑμητός (mīmētós)
• μῑμικός (mīmikós)
• μῑμόβιος (mīmóbios)
• μῑμογράφος (mīmográphos)
• μῑμολογέομαι (mīmologéomai)
• μῑμολόγος (mīmológos)
• μῑμῳδός (mīmōidós)

Descendants

• → English: meme, → English: mime, → English: mimic
• → Latin: mīmus (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: միմոս (mimos)
  • Armenian: միմոս (mimos)
• → Old Georgian: მიმოსი (mimosi)
• → Russian: мим (mim)

Further reading

• “μῖμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῖμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μῖμος 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.
  • actor idem, page 10.
  • mime idem, page 529.
• μῖμος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011