νήσσα

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek νῆσσα (nêssa), Ionic form of νῆττα (nêtta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.sa/
• Hyphenation: νήσ‧σα

Noun

νήσσα • (níssa) f (plural νήσσες)

1. (humorous, Katharevousa) synonym of the modern πάπια (pápia, “duck”)

   Occurs only in the quasi-Katharevousa set phrase of unknown origin:

   ποιώ την νήσσαν or ποιούμαι την νήσσαν (poioúmai tin níssan, “to feign ignorance”) synonym of the modern κάνω την πάπια

   (taxonomy) → Νήσσα, the genus Anas (duck)

Declension

Katharevousa declension: as in the ancient inflection without the dual number.
If declined with modern endings:

Declension of νήσσα

	singular	plural
nominative	νήσσα (níssa)	νήσσες (nísses)
genitive	νήσσας (níssas)	νησσών (nissón)
accusative	νήσσα (níssa)	νήσσες (nísses)
vocative	νήσσα (níssa)	νήσσες (nísses)

Further reading

• νήσσα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
• νήσσα - Babiniotis, Georgios (2002) Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας: […] [Dictionary of Modern Greek (language)] (in Greek), 2nd edition, Athens: Kentro Lexikologias [Lexicology Centre], 1st edition 1998, →ISBN.