ξίφος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σκῐ́φος (skĭ́phos) — Aeolic

Etymology

Already in Late Mycenaean Greek (Ta-716 from Pylos), attested in the dual 𐀥𐀯𐀟𐀁 (qi-si-pe-e, “two swords”) (mostly ideographically as 𐃉). Probably of Pre-Greek origin, related to and perhaps borrowed from Egyptian zft (“sword, knife”). If the Greek isn't borrowed directly from the Egyptian, perhaps both are from an Old Semitic saïf or sêf, or from a Libyan or "Sea Peoples" word.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ksí.pʰos/ → /ˈksi.ɸos/ → /ˈksi.fos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ksí.pʰos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.pʰos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.ɸos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.fos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.fos/

Noun

ξῐ́φος • (xĭ́phos) n (genitive ξῐ́φεος or ξῐ́φους); third declension

1. sword, the short, straight, double-edged sword of the Iron Age and Classical Antiquity.
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.194
   1. the sword-shaped bone of the cuttlefish
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 4.1.21
      1. swordfish
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Fragments 306
   2. corn-flag (Gladiolus italicus)

      Synonym: ξίφιον (xíphion)

      • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 7.13.1

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ ξῐ́φος; τοῦ ξῐ́φους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ξῐ́φος tò xĭ́phos	τὼ ξῐ́φει tṑ xĭ́phei	τᾰ̀ ξῐ́φη tằ xĭ́phē
Genitive	τοῦ ξῐ́φους toû xĭ́phous	τοῖν ξῐφοῖν toîn xĭphoîn	τῶν ξῐφῶν tôn xĭphôn
Dative	τῷ ξῐ́φει tôi xĭ́phei	τοῖν ξῐφοῖν toîn xĭphoîn	τοῖς ξῐ́φεσῐ / ξῐ́φεσῐν toîs xĭ́phesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ ξῐ́φος tò xĭ́phos	τὼ ξῐ́φει tṑ xĭ́phei	τᾰ̀ ξῐ́φη tằ xĭ́phē
Vocative	ξῐ́φος xĭ́phos	ξῐ́φει xĭ́phei	ξῐ́φη xĭ́phē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ξιφήρης (xiphḗrēs)
• ξῐφῐ́ᾱς (xĭphĭ́ās)
• ξῐ́φῐον (xĭ́phĭon)
• ξιφισμός (xiphismós)
• ξῐφοδρέπᾰνον (xĭphodrépănon)
• ξῐφοθήκη (xĭphothḗkē)
• ξῐφομᾰ́χαιρᾰ (xĭphomắkhairă)
• ξῐφουργός (xĭphourgós)

Descendants

• Greek: ξίφος (xífos)
• Mariupol Greek: пси́фус (psífus)

Further reading

• “ξίφος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ξίφος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ξίφος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ξίφος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ξίφος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ξίφος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• ξίφος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • blade idem, page 81.
  • brand idem, page 93.
  • rapier idem, page 672.
  • sword idem, page 849.
• A. Heubeck, 'Mykenisch *qi-si-po- = ξίφος', Minos 6 (1958), 114–116.
• ξίφος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ξίφος (xíphos, s-stem).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈksi.fos/

Noun

ξίφος • (xífos) n

1. sword

Declension

Declension of ξίφος

	singular	plural
nominative	ξίφος (xífos)	ξίφη (xífi)
genitive	ξίφους (xífous)	ξιφών (xifón)
accusative	ξίφος (xífos)	ξίφη (xífi)
vocative	ξίφος (xífos)	ξίφη (xífi)

Synonyms

• σπαθί n (spathí)

Derived terms

• ξιφασχία f (xifaschía, “fencing”)
• ξιφίας m (xifías, “swordfish”)
• ξιφίδιο n (xifídio, “dagger”)
• ξιφιός m (xifiós, “swordfish”)
• ξιφοθήκη f (xifothíki, “scabbard”)
• ξιφολόγχη f (xifolónchi, “bayonet”)
• ξιφομαχία f (xifomachía, “sword fight”)
• ξιφομάχος m (xifomáchos, “swordsman, fencer”)
• ξιφομαχώ (xifomachó, “to fence, to fight with swords”)
• ξιφουλκώ (xifoulkó, “to draw your sword”)
• ξιφοφόρος m (xifofóros, “swordsman”)

Further reading

• ξίφος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el
• ξίφος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language